


The Muskoka Institute of Success

by Lemon_Berry_Conda



Category: Total Drama (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Boarding School, Alternate Universe - High School, Blood, Blood and Injury, Canon-Typical Violence, F/F, F/M, Flirting, Humor, I give a lot of the characters headcanon last names for the hell of it, Inappropriate Humor, M/M, Multi, No Chris until the second chapter, Nudity, Other, Partial Nudity, Pour one out for all the teachers in this, Pranks and Practical Jokes, Swearing, Toilet humor, Vomiting (only in some chapters), trans cody, trans tyler, wlw mlm solidarity
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-07
Updated: 2020-11-26
Packaged: 2021-03-07 18:00:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 70,846
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26871796
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lemon_Berry_Conda/pseuds/Lemon_Berry_Conda
Summary: “At the Muskoka Institute of Success, we have strict rules regarding misconduct. No fighting, no unseemly behaviours, no practical jokes, no inappropriate language to teachers, no gratuitous destruction of property, and no sneaking into the school building from the dormitory building after dark, violations of these rules will be sought after with punitive action,”"If only one of our teachers would follow those rules,""Mr. McLean is not the only problem with our new influx of students... but he's certainly adding fuel to the fire""Too bad he's got legal dirt on the school so you can't fire him,""Too bad indeed,"
Relationships: Alejandro Burromuerto/Heather, Bridgette/Geoff (Total Drama), Brody/Geoff (Total Drama), Cody Anderson/Trent, Courtney/Gwen (Total Drama), Eva/Izzy (Total Drama), Jasmine/Shawn (Total Drama), Leshawna/Harold McGrady V, Lindsay/Tyler (Total Drama), Max/Scarlett (Total Drama), Noah/Owen (Total Drama)
Comments: 37
Kudos: 57





	1. Greetings and Salutations

“I don’t understand why I have to go to this lame-o school,” 

“Because, Duncan, you’ve finally been lifted of your parole, you’re a free young man, and we want to make sure you _keep_ your freedom for the rest of your adolescence,” Duncan’s mother dictated from the driver’s seat of the van, “A private boarding school is an excellent opportunity for you to adjust and make friends.” 

“I thought it was because the little miscreant’s been expelled from every public high school in Ontario,” Duncan’s father stated, only to be hit over the head with a purse by his wife. 

“Well, at least they don’t make us wear stupid uniforms… if my dormitory mates are chumps, I’ll send you guys a letter to come and get me,” Duncan growled, getting out with his bags as the van pulled up to the curb. 

“Goodbye Duncan! Mommy loves you! Stay out of trouble, please!” 

Duncan rolled his eyes and waved at his parents, taking his bags and walking through a large front path and past the doors of a grand foyer where a bunch of teenagers around his age were standing with their bags. 

“Oh look what we have here, someone’s lost on his way to the juvenile detention center,” a brown-skinned girl with freckles snickered, “It’s in North Bay, not Muskoka.” 

Duncan scoffed, “I just got out, hate to soil your expectations, Guadalupe,” 

“My _name_ is Courtney, but good to know you’re Catholic, I guess,” Courtney muttered, pulling her bags closer to her, “What a loser. Punk is so 70s.” 

“You look like you just cat walked out of 1965, I wouldn’t be so big for my cotton britches if I were you,” 

“Oh that’s a riot from the pencil neck with a mullet!” 

“You think that’s an insult, sweetheart? Your mom called, she wants her bob cut back,” 

“I- she… My mother’s hair is very long, for your information! And I will not take this kind of irreverent backtalk from someone the size of a 7th grader! Got that, Nostradumbass?” Courtney snapped, folding her arms. 

“Okay Gramma, call me when you’re done with surgery getting the stick out of your ass… and my name’s ‘Noah’, by the way,” 

“Whatever, like I asked,” Courtney huffed. 

“Are you 15 or 50? Make up your mind,” Noah said, making an obese boy with dirty blonde hair chuckle. 

“You’re _funny_ , dude, you wanna be friends?!” 

“Eh, sure, what’s your name, Big Guy?” Noah asked. 

“Owen! My name’s Owen!” the fat boy eagerly announced, scooping Noah into his arms, “You’re so light… it’s like I’m carrying a stack of paper.” 

Noah blushed, looking away, “Put me down,” he requested, being dropped to the floor with the rest of his bags. 

After a few more minutes of waiting, the gaggle of teenagers was brought into the rest of the building, being given instructions about the school on the way to the dormitory building by an older woman from the admissions office with her hair in a bun, who was wearing a dark blue sweater and a beige skirt, a stern and smug look plastered on her wrinkled face. 

“At the Muskoka Institute of Success, we have strict rules regarding misconduct. No fighting, no unseemly behaviours, no practical jokes, no inappropriate language to teachers, no gratuitous destruction of property, and no sneaking into the school building from the dormitory building after dark, violations of these rules will be sought after with punitive action,” 

“I’ll show _her_ punitive action,” 

A girl with light blonde hair in a blue shirt gently shook a muscular young lady in a tracksuit, “Shhh! Quiet Eva, you’re gonna get yourself in trouble,” she whispered. 

“Like I care,” Eva muttered back, “Mind your beeswax, Bridgette.” 

Upon arriving at the bridge between the school and the dormitory building, the older woman left the teens to cross by themselves and enter their new living accommodations. 

Duncan stretched out his back, approaching a door labeled “B1” and entering with his bags, picking the top bunk on one of two bunk beds, “This’ll do nicely… hope I’m bunking with some real bros,” 

“Who do you think our roommates are gonna be, eh?” 

“I don’t know, but go in already, I have to use the bathroom and call my mom!” 

“Awww, you call your Mama, too? I call her basically every day… I’m gonna miss her so much,” 

Duncan looked up from his spot on his bed and glanced at the three men who’d entered the dormitory, “Oh crap, who’re you hosers?” he scoffed, rolling his eyes. 

“Who you callin’ a hoser, eh? The name’s Ezekiel, but you can call me Zeke,” 

The smaller boy behind Ezekiel bit his lip as he stared down the bathroom door, “I’m Cody!” he blurted out, running to the bathroom and slamming the door shut behind him. 

“I’m DJ… my real name’s Devon… but just call me DJ,” 

“The name’s Duncan, I’m an ex-con with no time for bullshit, so if any of you give me problems, you’re gettin’ shivved,” Duncan grumbled. 

“Making a note of that… is it cool if I sleep underneath you? Being on top bunk makes me scared I’ll roll off in my sleep,” DJ requested, receiving a nod from Duncan and proceeding to claim the bunk beneath him, “I’m a little nervous about classes… I think most of us have got the same schedule.” 

“I’ve got Math first thing in the morning… absolutely terrific,” Duncan groaned, tugging at his eyelids. 

“Me too… maybe we should go explore, mingle with the other dudes?” DJ asked. 

“Eh, I just wanna get my clothes put away first, you can go, though,” Duncan said, jumping down from the top bunk and taking his clothes over to a dresser. 

DJ shrugged, leaving the room and going down the hall to room B2, knocking on the door. 

A boy in a cowboy hat and a blue short-sleeved shirt opened the door, “Sup dude? You need somethin?” he asked. 

“Just wanted to uhm- to introduce myself! My name’s DJ! Is it cool if I come in for a second?”

“Sure, man, the name’s Geoff,” 

“Thanks, Geoff,” DJ said, smiling as he stepped in, seeing a bit of disarray as three somewhat rowdy boys laughed with one another. 

The laughing paused when the three other boys noticed that DJ was there, and they all looked around nervously. 

“You idiots gonna introduce yourselves or what?- Hi, my name’s Trent,” a boy holding a guitar on a bottom bunk noted, waving at DJ. 

“I’m Harold,” a slightly tan redhead with freckles piped up from an adjacent top bunk, “You want a demonstration of some mad skills?” 

“Ew, he’ll pass, your ‘mad skills’ couldn’t get you out of a shoebox,” a tan young man in a V-neck shirt laughed, “I’m Justin.” 

“I’m DJ,” 

“Nice meeting you, Dude,” Justin greeted, smiling and slowly blinking as he waved, “Does anyone have any idea if we’ve got class today?” 

“It’s Sunday, of course we don’t have class, gosh!” Harold muttered. 

“I was just asking,” Justin bit back, shrugging, “No need to get your tidy whities in a twist about it… oh god, do we have to go to mass every Sunday or something?” 

“This is a secular boarding school, no praying required,” Trent noted, fiddling with his guitar case, “They changed the rules a few years ago. This used to be the St. Gabriel Conservatory.” 

Harold shuddered, “Can’t even imagine having to talk to a priest every week,” 

The gaggle of boys all laughed, their noise echoing into the hall and into room B3, where the remaining three boys were handling their lodgings. 

“So, why’d your parents send you here?” Tyler- a young aspiring professional athlete with brown hair and doe eyes- asked. 

“Dad’s a surgeon, Mom’s an heiress, and all of my siblings are wildly successful. I got all the credits I need from school already, but Mom refused to let me graduate early, said I needed ‘extra time to develop my social skills’. Dad wrote off on it because he thinks I’ll find a nice girl here,” Noah rambled, face buried in a book on his top bunk. 

“Woah, that’s crazy,” Tyler said, grinning, “My dad got this swanky new job under the… the primer… or something, and my mom thought I could make it further in the sports scene if I went here.” 

“Your _father_ works under Stephen Harper?!” Noah gasped. 

“Who’s Stephen Harper?” Tyler asked, “My dad just said he was handling historical records for the primer… whatever that is.” 

“It’s _premier_ , it means prime minister, the leader of this country, ringing any bells, Sports Drink?” Noah scoffed. 

“O hhh… why do they call it a primer?” Tyler asked. 

“Dude, it’s French!” Owen laughed, shoveling a chocolate bar into his mouth, “You were born here, right? Everyone’s supposed to learn.” 

“Ohh h… I’ve been going over sports plays in basically every French class I’ve ever had… I hope that’s cool,” Tyler noted. 

“If you want to fail French, it’s super cool,” 

Tyler blushed, going back to hanging some of his clothes up in the closet, “I’m gonna miss my mom, and my dad, and my little sister… and my cats,” he whimpered, tears in his eyes. 

“Awwww, I’m gonna miss my cat, too! Her fur always smelled like candy!” Owen sobbed. 

“Gag me,” Noah scoffed, getting down from his bunk and putting away his clothes. 

“You don’t like cats?” Owen asked. 

“I’m horribly allergic, and I think they’re weird,” Noah replied, “My service dog will be here before we’ve got class tomorrow, though, if the two of you miss animals in general.” 

“Service dog? But you’re not blind,” Owen noted, digging around in his suitcase and devouring more chocolate, “Mmmm.” 

“You don’t need to be blind to have a service dog, _genius_ ,” Noah snipped, rolling his eyes as he stowed away his last set of clothes, looking through his other suitcase at his catalogue of books, “Wonder if there’s a library.” 

“With the amount of money our parents pay, I’d assume so,” Tyler laughed, “I’m bored, who wants to go peep at the girls’ side of the building with me?” 

“What, you wanna go ‘scope out the hotties’? I’m in, I wanna go see if the freckled _chienne_ from the foyer is around,” Noah snickered, following Tyler out of their room and out of the boys’ side of the dormitory building. 

On the girls’ side, in dorm C1, four young ladies were organizing their things and comparing clothes when they heard a knock on the door. 

“Oh my god, you think it’s the admissions lady again?!” 

“I doubt it, Beth, she said she’d meet us in the cafeteria building for dinner, we’ve got a while,” 

“Not exactly, Bridgette, dinner _is_ in less than an hour, and you’ve barely finished putting your clothes away yet,” 

“Nobody asked for your opinion, Freckles,” 

**_Knock! Knock! Knock!_ **

“I’ll get it!” 

Courtney swung open the door and narrowed her eyes, “Uhm, excuse me, but _boys_ are not allowed in this section of the dormitory building, if you want to ‘mingle’, dinner’s in 45 minutes!” she snipped, slamming the door shut and sashaying back to her suitcase, taking out her collection of books and stashing them on the bookcase near their window. 

“Who was that?” Beth asked, adjusting her glasses and looking through her clothes. 

“Just two disgusting clusters of testosterone looking for cheap thrills, back to business, ladies, we’ve only got 43 minutes until this room needs to be _spotless_ ,” Courtney muttered. 

“You’re so uptight, Courtney, relax, we’ve got all night to get things sorted before class tomorrow, right Eva?” Bridgette asked. 

“Whatever you say, Blondie,” Eva sighed, storing her weights in a corner of the dorm. 

“Let’s try next door,” Tyler suggested, taking Noah to room C4 and knocking, only to be ambushed by a ginger girl in a green tube top, “AUGH!” 

“Oooo! Guys guess what?! I found boys!” the redhead chuckled. 

“Wonderful, exactly what I need in my life while I’m trying to figure out what outfit to wear to dinner,” 

“I don’t think you need a costume change to go eat some pizza, Heather,” a girl with bluish-green and black hair scoffed, “Izzy, tell the boys to go away and that we’ll see them at dinner.” 

“Can-do, Gwen!” Izzy giggled, grabbing the door and slamming it shut, “Katie, let me do your nails before we go have dinner!” 

“Well she was one hunk of crazy, doubt we’ll find anything nuttier than that,” Noah laughed, only to be mowed to the floor by a flash of dark skin and purple hair, “I stand… corrected.” 

Tyler hoisted Noah back onto his feet and they followed the sprinting girl to room C6, where they watched her eagerly bang on the door, jittering with excitement. 

“Uhm… are you new here too, or-” 

The purple-haired girl squealed, shaking Noah back and forth, “I thought you’d never ask! My name’s Sierra! My mom’s been on the province’s board of education for a while and she finally put in a request for me to go here! Eeeee!” she rambled. 

“Lovely,” Noah grumbled as dorm C6’s door opened and a bodice blonde girl with a blue headscarf stood in the doorway. 

“Hey… are you our dorm mate?” the girl asked. 

“Y es! What’s your name?!” Sierra jittered, running into the dorm with her bags. 

“It’s Lindsay… O ooo, hey guys! Sierra brought **boys**!” Lindsay giggled, blushing as she traced the doorframe with her finger, glancing at Tyler, “You’re kinda cute.” 

Tyler’s cheeks turned pink, and he shuddered, “Y-you too, your uhm… your uhh h… your eyes look like the ocean… my poem day mon core,” 

Noah burst into uproarious laughter, “Like she’s gonna understand that butchered French, Tyler!” he snorted. 

“Oh my god! You think I’m the apple of your heart?! That’s so sweet! You wanna sit with me at dinner?” Lindsay asked, twirling her hair around her finger. 

“T-totally,” Tyler said, “S-see you then, Lindsay!” 

“Bye Bye Tyler!” Lindsay called out, waving eagerly before turning back into the room, “Oh my god, Leshawna, Sadie, a cute boy is gonna sit with me at dinner!” 

“I heard, good for you, girl,” Leshawna- a black girl in a pastel orange jumper- said, gently patting Sierra on the back to get her to calm down. 

Tyler and Noah wandered the hall and returned to the boy’s side of the dormitory building, heading back to their room to find Owen fast asleep, scrunched up on his bed in his clothes and chocolate smeared around his mouth. 

“Poor guy, we should let him get some rest before we wake him for dinner,” Tyler whispered. 

“How’d he get so tired, anyway, he just moved his stuff and ate about two kilograms of chocolate,” Noah pondered. 

“Ah, I was wondering where my other two dormitory mates were,” 

Noah jumped, looking at the tan young man two heads taller than him who was offering an extended hand and a warm smile. 

“I’m Alejandro, Alejandro Burromuerto, my father is a diplomat from Brazil, it is a pleasure to meet you,” 

Noah narrowed his eyes, “Likewise, I’m Noah, the blushing oaf behind me is Tyler and-” 

Loud snoring filled the room. 

“ **That** is Owen,” Noah snickered.

Alejandro nodded, sitting on the bottom bunk underneath Tyler’s bed and pulling out a book, closing his eyes and mumbling to himself. 

Noah’s eyes widened and he approached Alejandro, eyeing the cover with slight suspicion, “ _The Golden Dog_?” he guessed, trying to read the title’s golden letters, “Never took you as the classical literature type.” 

“Oh, while I am fond of a good book, this is just my bible,” Alejandro explained, putting the bible inside a bedside table that held a lamp, “I didn’t get a chance to go to church with my family because I had to come here, so I figured I’d just skim a little.” 

Noah blinked, “Cool,” he said monotonously, climbing onto his bunk and lying down in bed with his book, “So… your dad’s a Brazillian diplomat?”

“Euh, yes, but he’s from Argentina, we moved to Brazil when I was around 10, I don’t know very much Portuguese,” Alejandro explained, “Mama has lived in Argentina most of her life, but she’s from the DR.”

“The Digital Research?” Tyler asked, scratching the back of his head. 

“The Dominican Republic,” Alejandro mumbled.

“O h hh… isn’t that where bananas come from?” Tyler asked. 

“Tyler, I am fond of you, and I have appreciated your company thus far, but can you stop being white for about five minutes?” Noah asked, raising an eyebrow as Alejandro laughed from his bunk. 

“I can try… you got a marker?” Tyler asked. 

Noah smacked his palm to his face and went back to his book, “You’re hopeless,” he said. 

“I know,” Tyler said, giggling. 

“Uhm, _amigos_ , how good are you with French?” Alejandro asked, leaning back in his bunk. 

“I only know how to say like 12 words,” Tyler’s cheeks flushed pink. 

“My mom says my skill is like that of a 4th grader who was born in France,” Owen grinned. 

“ _Je sais l’information basique avec francais, mais ma conjugaison besoin de travailler sérieuse_ ,” Noah said, smiling as his cheeks darkened, “How about you?”

“I only know about 6 words… maybe,” Alejandro muttered. 

Noah burst into laughter and rolled out of his bunk, hitting his head on the floor, “OW!” 

“Serves you right for rubbing it in,” Tyler muttered, helping Noah to his feet, “Show-Off”

“Hey, this ‘show-off’ is gonna be the one helping you with French for the next two years,” Noah shrugged, hearing a beeping on his watch, “Welp, time for dinner, let’s go.” 

Owen snorted and woke up, drooling, “Dinner?” he asked, wiping his mouth off and dusting off his clothes. 

“Yes, Owen, dinner, let’s go before the haggard wench from admissions comes in to yell at us,” Noah replied, smiling until Owen scooped him up into his arms, “Put me down, please.” 

“Nope, I don’t wanna,” 

Noah scowled, grabbing his book off of his bed and lying down in Owen’s arms, flipping through the pages as the boys traversed down the steps and through a back tunnel into the dining building. 

“This school is huge, how’re we supposed to get to class after lunch? There’s like 8 tubes we have to go through,” Tyler complained. 

“There’s a door on the left side of the building that takes you to the courtyard, the main school building is straight across,” Noah explained, still reading as Owen gently lowered him to the ground. 

“O h, that makes sense,” Tyler replied. 

Getting in line for dinner and waiting with his tray and plates, Noah jumped when a large steak was dropped in front of him, shuddering as he looked up into the narrowed eyes of a black man with a chef’s apron and a grimace made of steel. 

“There a problem, Scrawny Kid?” the chef asked, raising an eyebrow. 

Noah shook his head, taking a bowl of carrots and broccoli from the line and sighing at the slab of bleeding red meat staring back at him. 

“Two servings of milk, someone of your size sure needs it!” the chef demanded, handing Noah a glass. 

Noah walked to a beverage dispenser and poured himself a glass of milk, walking to a table where his dorm mates were all sitting. 

Owen had eaten his steak and was eagerly stealing bites from Alejandro’s when he wasn’t looking, “What’s the matter, Noah? Why aren’t you eating?” he asked. 

“My parents would kill me if the found out I was eating beef, plus this is going to give me killer stomach cramps,” Noah gagged, eating his vegetables and shoving his plate of steak over to Owen, “Steak and milk? You’d think we were living in 1955, disgusting.” 

Owen slid his vegetables over to Noah in exchange, “You gonna drink your milk?” he asked. 

Noah heaved into his hand, “Nope, go ahead,” 

Owen obliged, leaning over to Alejandro, “Are you gonna eat, or just stare at the clock the whole time?” he asked. 

“I’m not staring at the clock, I’m staring at _her_ ,” Alejandro sighed, pointing over to a table where the girls from C6 and C4 were sitting, Heather sitting on the outside end of the columns of girls, glaring at Alejandro fiercely, “She is so intimidating… it warms my heart.” 

“Disgusting,” Noah scoffed, finishing his second bowl of vegetables and going back to his book, “I don’t see what you goons like about those harpies anyway.” 

“Surely there must be _one_ of those angels that strikes your fancy,” Alejandro proposed, resting a hand on his chin as he blew bubbles in his glass of milk. 

“I mean… hmm… Freckles is fun to argue with, but other than that they’re all the same, it’s just a sack of flesh with two extra sacks of flesh attached, nothing to burst a blood vessel over,” 

“What do you think, Tyler?” Owen asked, looking around, “Tyler?” 

“He’s sitting over there, with the harpy in the blue headscarf, she’s feeding him her steak, I think I’m gonna be sick,” Noah gagged. 

Owen’s stomach grumbled, “Me too, I’m still hungry… the girl with the red hair is kinda cute,” he said nonchalantly, “She reminds me of the girl on those snack cake boxes,”

Noah rolled his eyes, leaning back in his seat, “This is boring, I’m ready to go to bed,” he muttered. 

“Give me back my vegetables, you cretin!” 

“Only if you say ‘pretty please with sprinkles on top’, Dollface,” 

“I am **not** a Dollface! Give it back!” 

“What’re you gonna do if I don’t?” 

“DUNCAN! Rghghh! Give it back!” 

“I don’t think I will,” 

Noah leaned forward, “Okay, shit just got interesting,” he snickered, “How much you wanna bet they fistfight?” 

“I bet on them not fighting, a gentleman would never be so crass or immoral as to lay his hands on a lady,” Alejandro pondered, eyes shut, as he pressed 25 Canadian dollars on the table. 

“I bet they do,” Noah said, adding 30 more dollars to the table. 

A wail was heard, and Duncan collapsed onto the floor, Courtney beating him over the head with her lunch tray. 

Alejandro blinked, “I suppose you win,” he muttered. 

“I always do,” 

Alejandro’s eyes went back to the other table, locking eyes with Heather and wiggling his eyebrows at her, mouthing “Princess” as she glared at him. 

A security guard and the woman from admissions rushed into the dining hall, the woman grabbing Courtney by her shoulders and the guard hoisting Duncan back to his feet. 

“I believed I made myself clear on my intolerance for unseemly conduct, Miss Rodriguez,” 

Courtney blushed, anger in her eyes, “He started it! He wouldn’t give me my vegetables!” she grumbled. 

“She’s right,” Duncan laughed, tossing the bowl of vegetables into Courtney’s hands, “What? Am I expelled or something?” 

The woman from admissions rolled her eyes, “No, that is not grounds for expulsion, but the two of you will write a five-page essay on the importance of decorum in academia, and I expect them to be in the Admissions office mailbox tomorrow afternoon,” she said. 

Courtney nodded, “Yes ma’am,” 

Duncan scoffed, “Whatever floats your boat, Bunhead,” 

The woman gasped, clapping her hands, “Alright children, grab your dessert, it’s time for an early rest, you’ve got class tomorrow morning!” she said cheerfully. 

Owen grabbed a slice of cake and a packaged cupcake, licking his lips as he devoured both of them in one bite on his way out the door, scooping Noah back into his arms on the way to the dormitory building. 

“Ohh… I think dinner’s over… what class do you have tomorrow?” Lindsay asked Tyler, twirling a strand of hair on her finger. 

“I-I’ve got History… how about you?” Tyler asked. 

“Me too! Y a y! See you tomorrow!” Lindsay giggled, walking out of the dining hall in a daze, Tyler following behind with his slice of cake. 

In the dormitory building, gathered around the mirrors and sinks after their shower, the boys paused in between brushing their teeth to figure out class schedules. 

“Okay, who’s got Math tomorrow morning?” Duncan asked, raising his hand alongside Geoff, Harold, Ezekiel, and DJ. 

“Who has History tomorrow morning?” Tyler asked, spitting out his toothpaste foam and raising his hand, accompanied by Owen, Justin, Trent, and Cody. 

Duncan looked at Noah and Alejandro, “What about you two?” he asked, taking a glug of his mouthwash. 

“Advanced Placement Math,” the two said in unison, bumping fists. 

“Nerds,”

“Why didn’t I get picked for Advanced Math? This is bogus,” Harold grumbled, struggling to close his package of dental floss. 

“Because the only thing you’re advanced in is collecting video game cards and wearing panties,” Noah snickered. 

“These are _briefs_!” Harold argued. 

“Where’s the window, then?” DJ asked, grinning. 

“Th-the what?” Harold blushed. 

“The _window_ , in your briefs? So that you don’t have to pull your pants down when you go to the bathroom? And have your ass out in front of other guys like we’re in preschool?” Justin scoffed. 

Harold blushed deeper, “I don’t… I don’t pee at the urinal,” he mumbled. 

Duncan flopped onto the tile floor, “So you wear **panties** , and you pee sitting down?!” he wheezed, “Somebody call an ambulance!” 

Cody’s eyes darted away, walking over to Harold, “It’s cool, Dude… I go sitting down, too,” he whispered, resting a hand on Harold’s shoulder, “It’s all good.” 

Harold wiped away a tear, “Really?” he asked. 

Cody nodded, whispering into Harold’s ear and blushing upon moving away, “You can’t tell _anyone_ , okay?” he asked, getting a nod from Harold as a response. 

“Alright scrubs,” Duncan yawned, “Bedtime.” 

“Oh! I think my Mama forgot to pack my bunny!” DJ squeaked, rushing out of the showers in his towel, mouthwash sloshing out of his mouth and soap still clinging to his back. 

“See you chumps tomorrow, Eh,” Ezekiel laughed, walking out of the showers with the rest of room B1. 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	2. The Host with the Most (Teaching Positions that is)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Alright kids, let’s go over some basics. I am Chris McLean, I am 30 years old-” 
> 
> Noah sputtered from his seat, both hands over his mouth as he tried to stifle his laughter. 
> 
> “Gonna pretend I didn’t hear that-"

“Owen, we’re getting ready for class, not a football game, easy on the cereal,” Noah chuckled, biting off of a strip of bacon and flipping through his math book. Sasha- his service dog- was curled up near his feet under the table.

“But it’s so tasty!” Owen whined, milk dribbling down his chin. 

“Uch, okay, I hate to ask, but do any of you clowns have any idea where the Advanced Math classroom is?” Heather asked, blowing her hair out of her eyes and tucking it behind her ear. 

“Second floor of the main building, room 211,” Alejandro replied, “Good to know there’ll be an angel among us for class.” 

Heather rolled her eyes, tugging on Alejandro’s hair, “I am  _ no _ angel, Sweetheart, and your little ‘tall, dark, and handsome’ routine is not gonna work with me.”

Alejandro placed a hand to his chest, “Tall, dark, and handsome?  _ Me _ ? I’m flattered,” he laughed, grinning at Heather, who balled her fists and stormed back over to her table. 

“He’s kinda cute, I think he has eyes on you,” Bridgette said, drinking her almond milk and going through her schedule, “Plus, it’ll just be you and Izzy in Advanced Math, think of being in a room full of smart boys.” 

“Oh please, like I’m taking life advice from a bleach blonde ‘professional surfer’,” Heather scoffed, going back to eating her grapefruit. 

Bridgette frowned, “Okay, you know what, that’s just cruel, whatever,” she grumbled, “At least in regular Math I won’t have to deal with you.”

“Whatever,” 

“O o o, I’m so excited for History class! Who else has it?” Lindsay asked, pressing her hands to her cheeks as Sierra, Beth, Gwen, Katie, and Sadie raised their hands. 

“I’ve got Advanced Math!” Izzy blurted out in spite of everyone being aware, devouring her eggs and skimming through her textbook, “Can’t believe the dormitory supervisor made me put on this stupid shirt.” 

“It’s a polo, Izzy, it’s the same color as your top from yesterday,” Gwen said. 

“You make a good point,” Izzy replied. 

“Anyways, good luck in Math, guys,” Gwen said, pointing her fork at Courtney, Eva, and Leshawna, “I think all of our schedules are basically the same after that, though.” 

“I think so, too, and I am going to have a  _ word _ with the administration for not putting me in Advanced Math,” Courtney growled, digging her fingernails into her apple. 

“We all took a test to see who would place in, Courtney, it’s obvious you just didn’t make the cut,” Heather laughed. 

“Oh, but Gingersnap over here, really?!” 

“My IQ  _ is _ like 188, I obviously placed in, duh,” Izzy replied, balancing her spoon on her nose. 

“Well this is just  _ great _ , I’m lower than a demented nut case on the intelligence totem poll, this’ll be great when I run for public office,” Courtney grumbled, folding her arms. 

**_BRRRRING!_ **

“Time for class, gotta go!” Izzy smiled, jumping on top of the table and lunging at the door frame of the dining hall, swinging out to the main building and following Heather to the Advanced Math classroom. 

“Excellent, right on time, ladies, take your seats in the center next to the two young gentlemen,” 

Heather sat adjacent to Alejandro, and Izzy sat next to Noah, the two boys exchanging a knowing look. 

“I wonder how Owen is holding up,” Noah pondered, leaning back in his seat and looking over the class syllabus that was placed on his desk.

“Welcome to Global History, my esteemed pupils, my name is Mr. Över, can anybody tell me what Canadian province we’re in?” 

Lindsay eagerly raised her hand, waving it around.

“The excited young lady with the blue headband?” 

“We’re in Muskoka! It says so on the building!” Lindsay cheered, grinning. 

“Uhm, no, Muskoka is just the municipality we’re in, anyone else care to give it a go?” 

Tyler raised his hand, looking at Lindsay from his seat next to her, “We’re in uhm… New Brunswick?” he asked. 

“I- young man, Muskoka is not in New Brunswick,” 

Trent raised his hand. 

“The young man with the high-five on his chest,” 

“Manitoba?” 

“Children, for the love of God, you’re all 16 years old,” 

Cody raised his hand, looking around. 

“Ah, the lovely youth in the yellow shirt,” 

“We’re in Ontario,” Cody sighed. 

The history teacher applauded, “Finally! We’ve cracked the case! I see we’re going to have to start with some basic Canadian knowledge before we can move to global engagement,” he said, “Open your textbooks to page 10.” 

Lindsay opened her book, glaring at the paper and raising her hand, “Uhm, Sir? I’m on the tenth page and it says ‘Index’,” she said. 

“Your book is backwards, Lindsay,” Tyler whispered, flipping it over and opening it to page 10 for her. 

“O h hhh, thank you, Tyler! You’re so smart!” Lindsay smiled and rested a hand on Tyler’s own. 

“Yeah, I guess I am,” Tyler said, grinning as he looked at his own textbook- which was upside down, “Wow, all the letters are weird… maybe I have disclicksia.” 

“It’s  _ dyslexia _ ,” Gwen corrected, rolling her eyes, “You’re holding your book upside down, genius.” 

“O h hh,” Tyler giggled, blushing, “Whoops.” 

“Anyways, back to the lecture, we are going to begin with the Indigenous Canadian people and their expansion of the vast land, does anyone have any personal experience with the First Nation people?” 

Sierra raised her hand, “My grandmother is a member of the Matachewan tribe!” she said, grinning. 

“Marvelous, young lady,” 

Lindsay looked over at Gwen, who was scribbling in her notebook, “What’re you doing?” she whispered. 

“Just sketching… I wonder how the Math kids are doing,” Gwen pondered. 

In the Mathematics classroom, a three-ring binder had just been thrown, and the exhausted teacher- a woman in her mid-forties with impressively deep crow’s feet and a very strange asymmetrical bob cut- was sitting on top of her desk. 

“People, can we please tone it down?” she asked. 

“Tell Freckles over here to zip it and maybe I’ll consider giving her the assault weapon back,” Duncan scoffed, folding his arms. 

“Just give her the binder back, Dude,” Geoff sighed, “I have like 8 questions about the syllabus and I can’t ask ‘em until you both chill.” 

“I’ll chill when I get my binder back!”

Duncan walked over to the wall and opened up a window, dangling the binder outside and whistling innocently. 

“Mrs. Zahlen, please do something of some use!” Courtney demanded, running over and tackling Duncan, grabbing her binder out of his hands and throwing him to the floor, “This is ridiculous!” 

“Ey, she can’t just manhandle me like that! This is a free country!” Duncan argued. 

“Will the two of you sit down and shut up already?!” Leshawna asked, raising an eyebrow as she skimmed through the syllabus, glancing over at Harold, who was vibrating in his seat, “You okay, Red?” 

“I should have brought my hoodie, it’s freezing in here,” Harold muttered, only to feel a sweater drape over his shoulders, turning to Leshawna, “Wow… thanks.” 

“No problem, Baby,” Leshawna replied, patting Harold on the head and leaning over to look at his copy of the syllabus, “Ooo… what’d you just highlight on this thing? She’s tryin’ to say I can’t charge my phone in here? Nuh-uh.” 

“Hello?! Excuse me! What are you going to do about this miscreant?!” Courtney yelled as Duncan took her binder from her again. 

“Duncan, out of my classroom, you may sit in the hallway until class is dismissed,” Mrs. Zahlen announced, watching as Duncan walked to the door and shut it behind him, “ _ Ahem _ , now then, any questions?” 

Geoff’s hand went up. 

“Yes, Jeffrey?” 

“It’s Geoff, but uhm… when you say ‘no hats’, do you mean like… ‘ **no hats** ’ no hats? Or just like ‘no  _ hats _ ’ no hats?” 

“I mean no hats,” Mrs. Zahlen stated, plucking Geoff’s cowboy hat off of his head and putting it on her desk, “You may have this back when the bell rings, but it won’t be worn in my classroom.” 

Geoff pouted, “This is totally bogus,” 

“I think you look cute without your hat,” Bridgette said, making Geoff’s cheeks burn pink. 

“Another one of my policies, Mr. Risley, is that there will be no unnecessary exposure of flesh in my classroom, so tomorrow you will arrive in a shirt that covers your lower torso effectively,” 

“Risley?” Bridgette asked, snickering as Geoff blushed. 

“Yeah,” Geoff muttered, biting his lip, “It’s so embarrassing.” 

“Are there any more quest-” 

**_BRRRRING!_ **

“Nevermind, class dismissed,” 

Courtney stormed out of the classroom, fists at her sides, “This is ridiculous, I still have at least ten questions about the curriculum section of the syllabus,” 

Geoff walked past Mrs. Zahlen’s desk and snatched his hat back, putting it on his head, “Thank you,” he scoffed, readjusting it and glancing at his class schedule, “Know the way to the English classroom?” 

“English 2 is on the third floor, Room 2049,” 

“Thanks,”

Upstairs, Geoff rushed to the classroom and slipped, falling forward and hitting his face on the doorframe. 

“Y ikes, killer wipeout, Dude,” 

Geoff blinked, rubbing his eyes as he saw a vaguely tanned older man with hair down to the middle of his neck, wearing a teal polo shirt with a white long-sleeved undershirt, and khakis. There was a necklace around his neck that looked like a small cloth pouch. 

Geoff looked the man up and down before taking a seat next to Trent, resting his chin on his hand. 

“Alright kids, let’s go over some basics. I am Chris McLean, I am 30 years old-” 

Noah sputtered from his seat, both hands over his mouth as he tried to stifle his laughter. 

“Gonna pretend I didn’t hear that- anyways, I teach several subjects at this fine school, and one of my favourite things in the whole world is competition,” Chris said, cracking his knuckles, “I love getting messy, getting aggressive, having some good old-fashioned reckless fun.” 

“Well this is an English classroom, not some game show, so kindly reign that desire in until you have a new class rotation,” Courtney stated, folding her arms, “Now, where’s the syllabus?” 

Chris pulled out two stacks of paper, “There is the same syllabus, but all of you will be separated into two teams,” he said, “The students whose names I call right now will all grab the syllabuses on the right.” 

“Syllabi,” Courtney corrected. 

“Whatever,” Chris scoffed, “Now: Bridgette,  _ Courtney _ , DJ, Duncan, Eva, Ezekiel, Geoff, Harold, Izzy, Sadie, and Tyler, you are going to be the Killer uhm… you guys pick an animal.” 

“Easy, this is English class, we should go with an owl,” Courtney said, shutting her eyes with pride. 

“I vote for a bear,” Duncan replied, writing his name on his desk. 

“I like the owl idea,” Bridgette said, Geoff nodding. 

“Alright, Killer Owls it is!” Chris cheered, smiling, “Okay, next up with the papers on the left: Beth, Cody, Gwen, Heather, Justin, Katie, Leshawna, Lindsay, Noah, Owen, and Trent, you guys are the Screaming Gophers.” 

“How come we don’t get to pick our team name?” Trent asked. 

“Cause I already wrote Screaming Gophers on your copies of the syllabus,” Chris laughed. 

Sadie raised her hand, jittering in her seat, “If I can’t be on the same team as Katie I will  _ literally  _ die!” she whined. 

“Me too! I can’t live without Sadie!” Katie complained. 

“ _ A-hem _ , you also forgot about the two of us,” Alejandro complained from his desk, gesturing to Sierra. 

“Okay, okay,  _ fine _ , Izzy, swap with Katie, Alejandro you’re on the Screaming Gophers and Sierra’s on the Killer Owls,” Chris declared, “The Killer Owls will sit on the right side of the room, the Screaming Gophers are on the left.” 

The students rearranged themselves to sit on the appropriate sides. 

“Alright, so our first challenge is going to be a test of speed, we are going to be reading  _ To Kill a MockingBird _ for the first half of quarter 1, you all have to read chapter 1 for homework, and send me an email when you finish! Whichever team has all of their members finish chapter 1 first wins a special prize tomorrow,” Chris explained. 

“That shouldn’t be so hard… this is actually kind of fun!” Courtney exclaimed, clapping quietly. 

“Alright, we’ve got ten minutes before the bell, and I need to skedaddle over to my next class, come get your copies of the book and leave when the bell rings,” Chris sighed, cracking his knuckles as he grabbed a laptop bag and a rolling backpack, leaving the classroom. 

**_BRRRRING!_ **

At the far end of the third floor hall, in the gymnasium, the cluster of students waited near the entrance door. 

“Alright kids! Welcome back!” Chris called, grinning as he waved. 

“You’re the gym teacher, too?!” Gwen asked, searching through her bag, “Crap! I forgot my gym clothes!” 

“Well today’s icebreaking activity is gonna suck for you, downstairs guys and gals, we’re goin’ to the pool!” Chris cheered, going to the door in the back of the gym and heading down a stairwell that goes to the basement where the school’s swimming pool was located. 

The students quietly followed, all varying levels of nervous. 

“I didn’t bring my swimsuit, this is ridiculous,” Courtney sighed, “He can’t make us swim in our clothes, can he?”

“I think he can, can we go back to the dorms to change?” Beth asked.

“Probably not,” Heather laughed, “Good thing I brought my swimsuit.” 

“You don’t have to rub it in!” Courtney whispered. 

Upon arriving at the school’s large swimming pool, Chris instructed the teens to go change in the locker rooms, sitting back on a chair and waiting for them all to come back out. 

“Alright, separate into the teams you have for English class, and sit on opposite sides of the pool ladder,” Chris instructed once they returned, pointing at the wet concrete floor as the kids sat down, “Our first activity is gonna be a challenge, you’re gonna jump from the 12 foot diving board into a circle made from floating dividers, if you make it in, your team earns a point, the team with the most points gets a pass to go change clothes in the dorms before next period.” 

Courtney raised her hand. 

“Courtney?” Chris asked. 

“You aren’t  _ seriously _ going to make me dive in my clothes, are you?” Courtney asked, frowning. 

“Just to prove that I  _ seriously _ am, you can go first,” Chris laughed, pointing to the diving board as Courtney angrily stomped over and climbed up. 

“I will be speaking to the Dean about your behaviour!” Courtney complained, wobbling on the stable end of the diving board. 

“Go ahead, but you’ll be doing that after you dive,” Chris said. 

Courtney ran to the end of the diving board, jumped, and tumbled in midair before landing in the middle of the ring, soaking her hair and clothes as she swam over to the side of the pool, hearing a shrill whistle. 

“Nuh-uh, you stay in the water until your team is finished, go over to the shallow end on the right side,” Chris instructed, watching Courtney swim, “Okay, Alejandro, you’re up.” 

Alejandro did his dive, landing right in the middle of the ring gracefully, flipping his hair and wiping water away from his eyes upon swimming to the surface and paddling over to Courtney. 

“Oh my god, he has such a cute butt,” Izzy whispered to Beth. 

“Totally,” Beth sighed. 

Owen poked Noah, who was sitting in his lap for reasons unbeknownst to Noah, “You think Al has a cute butt?” he whispered. 

“I think he’s horrible at French and wears women’s jeans, haven’t taken the time to consider the mound of flesh his shit passes through yet,” Noah scoffed as Owen laughed. 

“Can it with the side chatter, fellas,” Chris instructed. 

“Sure thing Senior Citizen,” Noah muttered, making Owen laugh even more. 

“If you think that’s so  _ funny _ , Double Stuff, you can go next,” Chris grumbled at Owen, pointing at the diving board and smiling as Owen walked over. 

“Now  _ that _ ’s a cute butt,” Noah chuckled to himself. 

“I’m gonna die now, I’m going to  **freaking** die now,” Owen said to himself, tapping his fingers together as he jumped, splashing into the pool and swimming out of the ring, spitting out a stream of water as he joined Alejandro in the shallow end. 

After everyone completed their dives, they waited in the pool for Chris to reveal the winning team. 

“The Screaming Gophers win a hot shower and half a class period to change in their dorms, Killer Owls need to change back into their clothes and report to their next class pronto!” Chris laughed. 

**_BRRRRING!_ **

“Have fun kids!” Chris called out, grabbing his things and heading back up the steps as the kids left. 

Tyler eagerly ran to the door, only to slip and smack into the doorframe, falling to the concrete and hitting his head. 

“Whoops,” Chris winced, watching blood trickle from the back of Tyler’s head, “Lindsay! Take Tyler to the nurse’s office, please, it’s on the first floor near the elevator.” 

“Okay! Come on Tyler!” Lindsay cheered, helping Tyler to his feet and hooking his arm with hers as she walked him up the steps. 

Later that afternoon, in dorm B3, Tyler stumbled in with a goofy smile on his face and a bandage around his head, “H-hey guys,” he giggled. 

“Where have you been? You missed lunch, and the rest of class, Eva threw Cody into the courtyard after he grabbed her phone,” Noah stated, reading  _ To Kill a Mockingbird _ . 

“I hit my head and the nurse kept me for ages to make sure I didn’t have a concussion,” Tyler said, climbing into his bunk, “I’m beat… what else happened?” 

“Courtney threw a tantrum about having to walk around school sopping wet and when she slammed her fist on her lunch tray she catapulted her pudding in her face,” Noah snickered. 

Tyler chuckled to himself, pressing his hands to his face. 

**_Knock! Knock! Knock!_ **

“I’ll get it,” Noah said, jumping down from his bunk and opening the door, looking at Courtney and Lindsay, the former still vaguely damp, “O h… I’m sorry, but  _ girls _ aren’t allowed on this side of the dormitory building, if you want to  _ mingle _ , dinner is in 25 minutes,” 

Lindsay pouted, “I just wanted to make sure Tyler was okay,” she said. 

“Can it, Sass Master, I’m just here because Lindsay knocked on all the girls’ dormitory doors and begged until someone was willing to help her over to the boys’ side,” Courtney sighed, glaring at Noah.

Lindsay walked into the dorm and sat down next to Tyler, handing him a pudding cup, “I saved you this from lunch,” she whispered, kissing Tyler’s cheek, “Does your head feel better?” 

Tyler blushed, “Y-yeah, it does, thanks,” he said, “S-see you at dinner?” 

“See you at dinner! Bye-Bye!” Lindsay cheered, jogging in a half-skip out of the room. 

That evening at dinner, the teens decided to sit according to their English class teams instead of their dorm assignments. 

“Who finished chapter 1?” Courtney asked, spooning rice into her mouth only to see Ezekiel, Bridgette, and Harold’s hands go up, “Okay, the rest of you need to explain why you flaked!” 

“I was in the nurse’s office all day after I hit my head at the pool,” Tyler whimpered, still rubbing the back of his head. 

“We got distracted thinking about what we’re going to do this weekend!” Katie and Sadie giggled. 

“I did my weightlifting routine in the dorms,” Eva scoffed. 

“I spent a while after school talking to Mr. Över about my heritage,” Sierra snickered. 

“I went back to the pool with DJ to get Tyler’s stuff,” Geoff explained. 

“I just didn’t feel like it,” Duncan laughed, putting his feet up on the table as Courtney threw her rice at him, “Hey! Watch it, Toots!” 

“You just didn’t feel like it?! Do you  _ want _ to lose the challenge?!” Courtney snapped, grabbing Duncan by his collar. 

“It’s not a ‘challenge’, it’s homework that our crazy English teacher is trying to turn into a competition, I don’t really care if our team ‘wins’,” Duncan replied, folding his hands behind his head and leaning back, “What’re you gonna do about it? Throw your shrimp at me?” 

A spoonful of shrimp and hot sauce hit Duncan in the face, making him scream as the hot sauce went into his eye. 

“Don’t give me ideas,” Courtney grumbled, dumping half a bottle of hot sauce onto her shrimp and eating them angrily with her fork.

“It’s okay, Courtney, I’ll bet the prize was lame anyway,” Sierra said, polishing off the last of her rice. 

“And with Lindsay finished, Mr. McLean just got back to us with our winner status and our prize of 15 points of extra credit per person!” Alejandro cheered as the Gophers clapped. 

Courtney slammed her fist against the table, her fork piercing through her plate and getting stuck, “I am going to go get my allotted three cookies,” she sighed, getting up from the table and walking back over to the service counter. 

“We won! We won!” Izzy cheered, “How come you aren’t having any shrimp, Noah? Rice and hot sauce is so boring.”

“I was  _ going _ to eat my shrimp, but somebody gave me puppy-dog eyes until I forsook my portion,” Noah sighed, eating a spoonful of rice, “And it’s not that boring, it’s good rice, beats the loaf of white bread over there.” 

Beth, Trent, and Cody were all eating their rice and shrimp completely plain, making the entire table laugh. 

“I have a sensitive stomach!” Beth whined, blushing. 

“Ditto,” Cody admitted. 

“I just don’t like hot sauce, it’s too much,” Trent complained. 

“Gringos,” Alejandro muttered, clinking glasses of grape juice with Noah, Justin, Leshawna, and Heather. 

“I don’t even know what that means, but I bet it isn’t nice!” Beth huffed, folding her arms. 

Owen poked Noah. 

“You want my cookies, Buddy?” Noah asked, watching Owen nod eagerly, “Have at it, I can’t really digest chocolate.” 

“Alright pupils, it’s time to grab your dessert and head to the dormitory building!” 

Owen scooped Noah into his arms again, pockets stuffed with cookies, “C’mon, I’m  _ so _ ready to work on chapter 2 of the book!” he said. 

“You want me to read it to you so you can go to sleep tonight, don’t you?” Noah asked knowingly, whistling for Sasha to follow Owen. 

“Yup!” Owen chuckled. 

Alejandro handed Heather his cookie, “Since you’re so sweet,” he said, gazing into her eyes, “Elegance and poise in such a fierce package.” 

Heather bit a chunk off of the cookie, “Oh I’ll show you a package-” she grumbled as Alejandro winked at her, “Rgghh!” 

“Come on, Heather! We’ve got a syllabus to examine!” Izzy laughed, grabbing Heather by the waistband of her pants and swinging out of the dining hall into the corridor. 

That night, after getting dressed and settling into their bunks to go to bed, the young men in dorm B3 heard the door open and sat up, Noah shining his phone flashlight at the door. 

“Ow! Guys, it’s just me, I was late getting out of the shower,” Tyler whined, rubbing at his eyes as he dusted off his pajamas- they were linen and covered in various sporting equipment, balls and such, it was adorable- and climbed into bed, pinkish-red spread across his cheeks. 

Noah continued to use his flashlight to examine Tyler from his top bunk, gagging, “Dude, look at your  _ face _ , are you sick?” 

Tyler pressed both hands to his cheeks, feeling the budding warmth and sighing, “Nah, I’m more than okay, I’m awesome,” he chuckled, pulling his blankets up to his waist and flipping through his copy of  _ To Kill a Mockingbird _ . 

“The only sick he is is lovesick, there’s a lip gloss imprint on his cheek,” Alejandro yawned from his bunk, “Try not to go out on your romantic escapades so late, mi hermano, the rest of us would like to enjoy our sleep.” 

“S-sorry, I just got carried away with Lindsay, I went into the girls’ dorms and she and I talked, and then the girls’ dorm supervisor kicked me out, but Lindsay kissed my cheek before we left and-” 

“Riveting, truly riveting, now spare us the remaining details and finish chapter 1 so we can go to sleep,” Noah scoffed, rolling his eyes. 

“You weren’t asleep, Noah, you were reading your math textbook,” Owen said, wiping drool from around his mouth. 

“And  _ you _ were eating a gratuitous quantity of chocolate,” 

“And Al was drawing his and Heathers’ initials in his English notebook,” 

Alejandro jumped, “ _ Alejandro _ , and I most certainly was not,” he argued. 

“Let’s see that notebook then, Casanova,” 

Alejandro folded his arms and rolled onto his side, “I do not have to comply with such immature demands, Goodnight Gentlemen,” he mumbled. 

“Night,” Noah sighed, flopping down and putting his pillow over his head. 

“G’Night,” Tyler swooned, cuddling his pillow like a teddy bear and mumbling as he dozed off. 

“Hehe… Goodnight,” Owen whispered, quietly unwrapping more foil as he dug through another half-suitcase’s worth of chocolate while the moon’s glistening light poured in through the windows and cast a brilliant blue shadow over the Earth. 

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Just for some context, Chris teaches this group of students for English, Gym, French, Music, and a few more classes that won't be important until later. 
> 
> Dinners, Breakfasts, and Lunches are randomized for funsies, sometimes they're weird, usually, they're normal. 
> 
> A quick reminder of dorm arrangements, which might change later:   
> B1: Cody, DJ, Duncan, Zeke  
> B2: Geoff, Harold, Justin, Trent  
> B3: Noah, Owen, Tyler, Alejandro 
> 
> C1: Beth, Bridgette, Courtney, and Eva  
> C4: Gwen, Heather, Izzy, and Katie  
> C6: Lindsay, Leshawna, Sierra, and Sadie


	3. The Sprint and the Seminar

**_BEEEEEEP!_ **

Leshawna jumped out of bed, looking out the dormitory window at the sun slowly rising, and at the clock on the wall, yawning as she rubbed her eyes, “It is 5 o’ clock in the morning!” she complained, “Do I look like a farmer to you?”

A click of the PA system and the dormitory supervisors’ voices could be heard. 

“ **Ladies and Gentlemen in 3rd period Physical Education are excused from their regular classes for the day, but must report to the main building, dressed and ready for instruction in 35 minutes!** ”

“WHAT?!” Heather complained, lifting her eye mask, “An entire day of gym?!” 

“Awwww, this sucks,” Courtney whined, pouting as she stood up and brushed her hair. 

“Owen, wake up, we have to go downstairs,” Noah commanded, kicking Owen’s abdomen gently, making the obese teen belch. 

“M mm… What’re we doing? I don’ wanna… I feel gross,” Owen complained, belching again as he wobbled to his feet. 

“I believe that is because you ate your weight in chocolate last night, judging from all of the wrappers… and your face,” Alejandro stated, sliding down from his bunk, visibly exhausted. 

“Don’t tell me you were up all night drawing pictures of Heather,” Noah scoffed, whistling to wake up Sasha as he poured her some dog food. 

“Possibly,” Alejandro muttered to himself, changing clothes and putting moisturizer in his hair before giving it a good brush, “Come along, Gentlemen, the day awaits us!” 

Upon arriving downstairs, the half-awake teens were jarred to attention by the shrill screech of a whistle, the ever-ostentatious Chris McLean in a tracksuit with the whistle dangling around his neck.

“Welcome, pupils! Hope you lovely crazy kids got some rest,” Chris laughed, looking at the exhausted teens, “Today’s activity, with allowance from your teachers, is a lap around the school’s property, including all of the sports fields, buildings, and the spare half-acre of woods behind the compound!” 

“WHAT?!” Heather snapped, fists balled at her sides. 

“When I give the go-ahead, you’ll have to run the entirety of the school property once, with the finish line being the dining hall, you’re in your usual teams and the first team to arrive at the dining hall wins!” Chris announced, a bombastic grin on his face, “Go!” 

The teams took off, some sprinting at full speed, others doing a light jog, and some simply walking out of sheer exhaustion and refusal. 

“I am wearing pink chiffon slippers, Chris!” Heather whined, balling her fists as she speedwalked, “It’s  _ freezing _ and I’m wearing my pajamas, this is so stupid.” 

As everyone took off running, a small cluster of Gwen, Harold, Katie and Sadie were left behind, walking as they passed the final school building, approaching a stretch of land leading to the field house. 

“How much longer?” Harold asked, trudging through the dewy grass and wiping off his glasses. 

Justin and Bridgette sped past, panting as they moved in stride with one another, kicking up small clusters of muddy grass with every few steps. 

Gwen tugged the skirt of her black nightgown up, feeling it fall loosely at her hips, “Do not walk next to me,” she muttered, walking a little faster, only to see Cody ahead and turn back around to walk next to Harold again, “Nevermind.” 

Harold rolled his eyes, starting to pick up the pace, seeing Heather over by the field house, walking over to it and leaning against it, with Noah bumping into her as he jogged past. 

“Uhm, Hello?! Watch it!” Heather yelled, “Ugh! I am not running in these pink chiffon shoes, Chris! They are worth more than both of your decrepit old kidneys!” 

“Cry me a river, Honey,” Duncan scoffed as he ran past, pretending he was riding a horse, “We’re almost to the finish line, Black Beauty!” 

Heather rolled her eyes as Alejandro ran up to her, stopping by the field house, “What do you want?” she snapped. 

“I want our team to win, I just took a second and sprinted out to the dormitory building to get my running shoes… I see you’re wearing something so adorably precious, and I’d hate for them to get muddy,” Alejandro said, his voice sultry and smooth as he gently twirled a lock of Heather’s hair on his finger, “Allow me to carry you to the finish, it would ensure a better chance at victory for our team.” 

Heather blushed, pressing her hands to her face, “There is no way you could carry me,” she grumbled. 

“Such modesty, we have little time for that, but I value it. You can’t be anything more than a mere 105 pounds, and I assure you I can lift far more,” Alejandro purred, thumbing the back of Heather’s hand as he swung her into his arms and ran off, Heather silently trying to massage the colour out of her cheeks and avoid looking Alejandro in the face while he held her, hiding the fact that she wished she could wrap her arms around his neck. 

As they ran by, they passed Owen, who was on his hands and knees, licking up water from a puddle in the thick muddy grass, panting desperately, “Can’t-” lick “-catch-” lick “-breath, must-” lick “-have… condition!” he breathed, sweat dripping down his face.

“Yeah, it’s called  _ overeating _ , look into it,” Heather scoffed, gripping the shoulders of Alejandro’s shirt as he passed them, breezing past Leshawna, who was bent over near a tree, heaving and digging her fingernails into her knees.

“What’s your excuse? You skinny… little… nope, too tired for insults, but you’re awful lucky you got your man carrying you!” Leshawna called out. 

Heather rolled her eyes, leaning into Alejandro’s chest as he continued to run, not even seeming out of breath or tired, “You are  **not** my ‘man’,” she grumbled. 

Alejandro glanced at her and then looked ahead of him, “Not yet,” he mumbled inaudibly as he gently pressed his fingers into her to maintain his grip. 

“What was that?” 

“Nothing, nothing,” Alejandro insisted, blushing. 

Back at the puddle, Owen was finally on his feet after catching his breath, wiping the muddy water from around his mouth, and getting ready to keep running as Sasha approached him, barking and tugging on his shirt with her teeth, “What is it, Girl? Why aren’t you with Noah?” 

Sasha pointed her head further ahead of them, into the clearing around school property and running ahead, making Owen follow her until they reached Noah, who was sitting down in the grass clutching at his chest, making a sound when he inhaled that reminded Owen of squeaking. 

“Hey, you okay?” Owen asked, “Someone as in shape as you shouldn’t have so much trouble, you’ve gotten pretty far, Noah! You did such a good-” 

“Help me-” Noah begged, taking another squeaking wheeze of an inhale, “I’m not-” he paused again, his eyelids drooping as he flopped onto his back in the grass, still clutching his chest in pain, “-Supposed to run this fast… I don’t have my-” he wheezed again, “-inhaler… I can’t breathe.” 

Owen’s eyes widened, “Oh my god, wait, what am I supposed to do? Should I do the CPR thing you do when someone’s drowning or-” 

“Owen  **_please_ ** -” Noah breathed, tears in his eyes as he stared at Owen from the ground, his eyelids still narrowing as he struggled to breathe. 

Owen nodded, hoisting Noah into his arms and running faster than he’d gone the whole time, fueled by adrenaline, “I got you, Little Buddy!” he cheered, grimacing as he sprinted. 

“Don’t let me die, Owen,” Noah muttered, flopping over Owen’s shoulder as he lost consciousness, Sasha running beside Owen and kicking up the mud as they passed most of the Killer Owls. 

Back at the dining hall, the Screaming Gophers were all waiting at their usual lunch table, exhausted and guzzling water as Chris filed his nails, when the back door burst open and Owen ran in with Noah still over his shoulder, Leshawna following behind them. 

“Woah, what happened?” Trent asked, nudging Geoff- who was sitting at the wrong table- and making him pay attention. 

Owen started crying as he spread Noah out on the Screaming Gophers’ table, “I need his inhaler and I don’t know where it is and he told me not to let him dieeee!” he panicked, attempting to do chest compressions as the bewildered teens watched. 

“Okay, teams aside,  _ inhaler _ ?!” Courtney whipped around and glared at Chris, “You made a student with  _ asthma _ run what had to be at least 20 kilometers?!” 

“Hey, his info on the roster only said something about a heart condition and allergies, I didn’t hear anything about any asthma,” Chris said, shrugging as he looked at the roster in a three-ring binder he had on a table, “Oh whoops, nevermind… there it is, my bad.” 

“Your bad? Dude, what if he dies?!” Trent asked, biting his nails. 

“He won’t!” Owen cried. 

Harold practically crawled in, flopping over onto the dining hall floor, “I feel like I just ran for my life in the African Savanna, I never want to do that again,” he muttered, taking out an inhaler and shaking it. 

“Oh, excuse me, Baby,” Leshawna stated, tilting Harold’s head up, “We got an asthmatic brotha over there who doesn’t have his inhaler, can he borrow a couple doses?” 

Harold cleaned his glasses, “That seems kind of unsanitary,” he muttered until Leshawna grabbed his shoulders, her irises sparkling in his vision. 

“Sugar, he  _ really _ needs it, I promise I’ll clean it off right after, can I see it?” Leshawna asked, blinking at him, “You’d want somebody to do the same for you, right?” 

Harold blushed, handing Leshawna his inhaler and leaning against the wall of the dining hall. 

After administering two doses, Noah’s eyes opened and he leaned over to hug Owen, “Thank you,” he mumbled tearfully into Owen’s shirt, “Thank you  **_so_ ** much.” 

Owen grinned, hugging Noah, “I promised I wasn’t gonna let you die, Little Buddy,” he cried. 

Leshawna tossed Harold his inhaler back, “You saved brotha’s life, thank you, Sugar,” she smiled sweetly, gently stroking his cheek. 

Harold blushed, nodding. 

“Okay, so we won the challenge, right?” Gwen asked. 

“Okay, that wasn’t the whole challenge, but I’m giving your team 5 bonus extra credit points because I don’t want Noah’s parents to press charges,” Chris muttered, rubbing his arm. 

“Oh I am-” Noah paused to breathe, “- _ definitely _ telling my parents, my mom’s gonna be  _ pissed _ ,” he growled, relaxing against Owen.

“Okay, I had this plan where I was gonna have you all day and we were gonna see who could stay awake the longest, but I just got a call from the dean and apparently your day was supposed to be cleared for the club seminar this afternoon… so you can now return to the dormitory building,” Chris instructed, biting his lip, “Whoops.” 

“Whatever,” Heather scoffed, walking out of the dining hall, “I need a shower, euch!” 

As the students filed out, with Owen scooping Noah into his arms and getting ready to leave, Chris stopped them at the door, “Heyyy Dude, hope there’s no bad blood between us or anything,” he chuckled, making finger guns. 

Noah blinked, pulling his phone out of his pocket, “Hi Mama… no I’m not in any trouble… thanks, I’m proud of myself too… ਕੁਝ ਪਾਗਲ ਚਿੱਟੇ ਅਧਿਆਪਕ ਨੇ ਮੈਨੂੰ ਲਗਭਗ ਮਾਰ ਦਿੱਤਾ… mhm… yes, I’d appreciate it if you told Dad… no, I’m fine, I still wanna stay here… ਮੈਨੂੰ ਹੋਰ ਦਵਾਈ ਚਾਹੀਦੀ ਹੈ, mhm, okay, say hi to Aunt Fatima for me,” he ended the call and looked at Chris, “Yeah, so my dad’s probably gonna call you later today.” 

Chris nodded as Noah and Owen left, Sasha following after them. 

In dormitory C4, Heather was changing clothes, grumbling with scorn as the other girls flipped through the extracurricular catalogue, ignoring her. 

“So I lean against the field house, this guy comes up, compliments my shoes, and  _ carries _ me to the dining hall… what a try-hard!” Heather scoffed, “His hand pressed into my back- euchhh!” 

“Maybe he likes you,” Gwen proposed, skimming through the catalogue, “O o o, there’s a poetry club!” 

Heather tugged her khaki shorts up to her hips, tugging at the buckle of her designer belt and pulling on her fleece shirt, “Ugh, Isabelle, give me my hairbrush,” she demanded. 

“What’s that? Was someone talking?” Izzy asked no one, hanging from her top bunk by her feet. 

Heather sighed, “Izzy, give me my hairbrush,” she demanded, grabbing her brush in midair and stroking it through her locks, “When is this club seminar supposed to be?” 

“Right before lunch, we’ve got to go to the first floor of the main building in ten minutes,” Gwen said, “You know they’re gonna tell you those shorts are too short, right?” 

“They are  _ not _ , and my parents are paying for me to go here, I can wear whatever I want!” Heather scoffed. 

“I can see half of your buttcheek, what’re you doing? Showing out for Alejandro?” Izzy asked, raising an eyebrow. 

“Like I want that wily serpent to see my buttcheeks,”

“I think you do, I mean I’d want  _ Justin _ to see my buttcheeks if I had a short enough pair of shorts,” Katie giggled. 

“Nobody asked you, Katie,” Heather snipped, adjusting her shorts, “Alright, let’s go downstairs.” 

In the main school building, on the first floor, there were an array of sign-up areas for different sports teams and clubs, leaving the teens to their own devices in terms of which ones to pick. 

“Oh yeah! Rugby season, let’s go!” Tyler cheered, filling out the form and high-fiving Geoff, Duncan, and Trent, “Alejandro, you want in on this?” 

“Oh, no thank you, I only play football,” Alejandro laughed. 

“Uhmm… I don’t think we play that here… we’re not in the states… rugby is kinda like football!” Tyler said, trying to help. 

Alejandro rolled his eyes, “Americans… I mean ‘soccer’,”

“Ohhhhh, okay!” 

Alejandro walked in front of a stand for the art club, and as he reached for the pen to sign his name, he felt a hand underneath his, “Oh… good to see you again,” he sighed, smiling. 

“Oh buzz off,” Heather grumbled, “Just sign the thing already.” 

“I happen to like your choice of clothing, though I never knew such defiance of modesty could in turn be so graceful and perfect… your body composition is impeccable,” 

Heather’s cheeks turned pink and a hand moved to cover her butt, “I- if you’re going to drool over my ‘body composition’, you could at least buy me dinner first,” she muttered. 

“Is that an invitation for me to do so?” 

“Yes- I mean NO,” Heather stammered, signing the sheet and sashaying off, “Stop looking at my butt!” 

“It is hard not to,  _ princesa _ , it’s staring at me,” Alejandro called out, leaning against the stand as Heather walked away, still focusing as she garnered the attention of one of the supervising teachers and got into an argument about modesty of clothing before she was handed a sweater to tie around her waist. 

Courtney was leaning against a column on the ground floor, going through her checklist of activities, “Student council, band, choir, debate team, multicultural, art, and then… I suppose something just for me… what do I want to do?” she pondered, scratching the side of her head with a pencil and then grinning, “Tennis!” 

Nearby, Owen was staring at the sign-up sheets and stands for a few clubs, “I’m kinda nervous about being in a club by myself… if I sign up for culinary club, will you join with me?” he asked, turning to look at Noah with a soft and innocent smile. 

Noah had a sassy comment about culinary club in the back of his mind as the gears turned in his head regarding how to verbalize it, but the comment was swiftly forgotten when Noah turned to be stunned by Owen’s sparkling blue eyes and his doughy, soft, and rosy cheeks. Noah tried to find the comment again, but it was gone, all he could think about was how fast his heart was beating. 

“It’s like looking at the sky,” Noah muttered to himself, his unimpressed face slowly melting into a smile. 

“Uhm… Noah? You wanna sign up for culinary club with me?” Owen asked again, confused, little did he know that all Noah heard was ‘You wanna-’ and ‘with me?’. 

“ **_Yes_ ** ,” 

Owen nodded, grinning as he signed both their names, “And I’ll sign up for book club and band with you! That way we can have fun together!” he laughed.

Noah was snapped out of his daze by Sasha tugging on his shirt, “Oh… yeah… sorry, Girl, what was I doing?” he asked. 

Sasha tilted her head. Being a dog, she could not respond in a way that Noah understood. 

“Oh, okay… yeah,” Noah said, mostly to himself, but also acknowledging Sasha as he rubbed her head. 

**_BRRRRRING!_ **

“Woohoo! Dinner time! It’s been ages!” Owen cheered, scooping Noah into his arms again and running to the dining hall. 

“Y-you don’t have to carry me all the time, I can walk, you know,” Noah muttered, biting his lip. 

“You’re easy to carry… plus if you really didn’t like it, you’d put up way more of a fight about it,” Owen snickered, smiling at Noah. 

Noah blinked, having nothing to say he just relaxed against Owen’s plush arms until they entered the dining hall, grabbing their food- the meal for the evening was burgers, something Noah happily relinquished to Owen- and sitting at their usual table. 

A couple of tables down, Geoff approached Bridgette with his tray, sitting down next to her. 

“What’s the matter? You’re not eating,” Geoff asked. 

“I don’t eat meat, I just don’t feel right about how the Western world handles livestock,” Bridgette explained. 

“Oh, damn… I’ll take your burger and you can have my french fries,” Geoff said, sliding Bridgette his fries, “I care about animals too n’ stuff, but y’know, can’t do a proper workout routine without natural protein… tried the vegan stuff for a while but I got this weird rash on my tongue that spread down my throat… they had to cut out a piece of my intestine.” 

“Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry,” Bridgette said solemnly. 

“Oh, nonono, don’t be sorry, it was really cool! The scar from the surgery’s shaped like a G!” Geoff said, grinning, “It’s all good.” 

Bridgette smiled at him, “I’ll bet it is,” 

“Yeah, totally,” 

At the table where the boys of dorm B3- accompanied by Lindsay, Izzy, and Heather- were sitting, Owen had polished off both his and Noah’s burgers, and shoved two fries around his teeth to make them look like tusks. 

“Hey, Noah, look! I’m a walrus!” Owen said, grimacing and making goofy faces until the fries fell out and he tossed them into his mouth to eat them. 

“Uch, isn’t that a little juvenile? You’re 16 years old, have some dignity,” Heather scoffed, Alejandro nodding in agreement, looking vaguely unamused, they turned to look at Noah, hoping he’d have something to say in agreement with their judgements. 

When they looked, they found Noah clutching his abdomen in his seat, suppressing laughter as he gently patted Owen’s back, “I think you contrarians need to lighten up and make out or something,” he snickered, high-fiving Owen. He didn’t find the joke nearly that funny, but something about how excited it made Owen fueled an instinct within Noah to make the people snubbing him look foolish and out of touch. 

Heather rolled her eyes, Alejandro too focused on Heather rolling her eyes to roll his eyes. 

“Paws off, Stringbean!” 

“Oh come onnn, I just wanna see what music you’re listening to-” 

**_WHAP!_ **

Cody collapsed onto the dining hall floor after Eva smacked him in the head with her lunch tray, having done the deed one-handed so she could retrieve her phone with the other hand. 

“Fifteen bucks, Trent,” Duncan snickered as he was handed fifteen canadian dollars. 

“You’ve got such a good  _ arm _ , Eva! Teach me!” Izzy giggled, shaking Eva’s free hand. 

“Back off, Gingersnap,” Eva muttered, “If I taught you I’d have to  _ be _ you, nobody learns my secrets but me.” 

“I love a good mystery!” Izzy laughed, “You’ll come around someday, it’s inevitable, or if it doesn’t happen here there’s  _ definitely _ some alternate universe where it does… Stephen Hawking said so!” 

Eva rolled her eyes as she walked out of the dining hall back to the dormitory building with the other students. 

In dorm C6, Leshawna was sitting up in bed typing on her laptop when she heard sobbing from one of the bunks, “What is it?” she asked, turning to see Sadie on the bunk underneath Sierra. 

“I miss Katie so much! I’ve never been apart from her for this long before! She’s like my best best friend!” Sadie cried, wiping her eyes, “What’re you doing?” 

“Reading chapter 2 of our book, it’s actually really interesting… do you wanna be in Katie’s dorm instead?” Leshawna asked. 

“A little, yeah,” Sadie whimpered. 

“Uhm… come with me, let’s go sort this out,” Leshawna suggested, getting out of bed and going down the hall with Sadie, knocking on the door of dorm C4. 

“Mm… what is it?” Gwen yawned. 

“Sadie really wants to be in the same dorm as Katie… so I was wondering if any of y’all wanted to switch or somethin?” Leshawna asked. 

“Oh, uhm… no, but I think dorm C8 is open now, the girls who were in there left because they got really homesick,” Gwen said, “Katie and Sadie can talk to the dean tomorrow and they can take that room… we’ll take Sierra off your hands.” 

“Sounds like a plan, Girl, thank you so much, have a good rest of your night!” Leshawna yawned, walking back to the dorm as Gwen grinned, drooling a little and wiping her mouth off before she crawled into bed, eating a package of gummy candy. 

“Can I have one?” 

Gwen snickered, tossing a handful of candy over to Izzy’s bunk, “G’night Izzy,” she yawned. 

“G’night Gwen!” Izzy whispered.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Noah's two sentences in Punjabi are "Some crazy white teacher almost killed me" and "I need more medicine". 
> 
> I might eventually make a club directory when things go deeper, there aren't gonna be many challenges, but I throw them in to keep things interesting, this is really fun! I hope you guys are enjoying the story so far! Comments would be much appreciated.


	4. Duncs and Dodgeballs

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Today, we will be playing dodgeball, and the first rule of dodgeball is-”
> 
> “Do not talk about dodgeball?” Noah asked, making Owen laugh as Chris rolled his eyes. 
> 
> “As I was saying, catch the ball, the thrower is out, get hit with a ball, you’re out,” Chris explained, “Only five of you can play on your team’s side at a time, and one person will need to sit out every two games.” 

It was about 7:20 in the morning, and breakfast was being served in the dining hall, Noah silently sat down at the Screaming Gophers’ lunch table, bags under his eyes and a grimace on his face. 

There wasn't anything wrong with him, though, half of the table was equally exhausted. 

“Oooo, you guys, Eva and I had so much fun last night!” Izzy cheered, eating her bowl of oatmeal and occasionally giving spoonfuls to Eva, who was doing bicep curls, “We snuck into the dean’s office and stole her dentures!” 

“I didn’t even know the dean of students  _ had _ false teeth, isn’t she in her 40s?” Alejandro yawned, leaning against the table with his head in his hands. 

“She also eats two bear claws and a sugary mess of coffee every morning,” Heather laughed, “You’d need an industrial cleaner to keep all of your teeth with that routine.” 

Owen looked up from his dwindling stack of pancakes- Noah had gotten some just to give to him, so he had 8 instead of 4- with syrup stuck all over his mouth and nose, dripping down onto his blue shirt, “Does that mean I’m gonna lose all of my teeth?” he asked, shuddering. 

“Nah,” Noah waved Heather’s comment off, “Don’t go scaring Sugarcube over here because you’re scared of having to buy size 1 khaki shorts.” 

Heather folded her arms, “Ew, ‘Sugarcube’? I can only assume that was some failure of an insult,” she scoffed. 

“I mean, he eats enough sugar a day for about six people, he’s white and soft… and he’s  _ really _ sweet,” Noah elaborated, his eyes widening when he realized he’d said the last part out loud. 

“A wwww, Little Buddy, you’re so nice! Gramma Jeri-Lynn said that my sweet tooth would find me good friends! I knew I could trust her!” Owen cheered, hugging Noah tightly and then going back to eating his pancakes. 

Noah blushed, “I mean it… I’m glad you consider me a friend,” he muttered, resting his hand on the one that didn’t hold Owen’s fork, “Wait, did you just say Jeri-Lynn?” 

Owen nodded, his mouth full. 

“As in… Jeri-Lynn Horton-Joyce?” Cody asked, having piped up from further down the table. 

Owen nodded again. 

“As in, the heiress to the Tim Horton’s fortune?” Trent asked. 

Owen nodded, shrugging. 

“ **Dude** , that’s crazy! Do you have any idea how crazy that is?!” Justin asked, sitting in awe next to Trent. 

“I mean… Dad talks about a lot of boring business stuff regarding it, but I never really listen. The free doughnuts are cool, though! They’re really good,” Owen sighed, drooling. 

Heather rolled her eyes, “You’re probably worth like five million dollars ransom, easy, and you only care about getting free doughnuts,” she grumbled, “Ridiculous.” 

“Okay, Miss ‘I think wearing platform wedges with maroon straps and pink velour underwear every day is super cute,’ maybe stop being a cold bitch about other people’s business,” Noah stated, gently resting his hand on top of Owen’s. 

Alejandro blinked at Heather, a smile creeping onto his face. 

“I do  **not** wear pink velour underwear! How would you know, you creep?!” Heather snapped. 

“You wear those dental floss khaki shorts and bend over in advanced math trying to show off for Alejandro, but he’s usually- you know-  **doing work** , so the only person who’s ever unlucky enough to see that is me,”

“Uch! Ew! You’re such a pervert!” Heather muttered, looking at Alejandro, “I was not showing off for you, fyi.” 

“Oh trust me, your extra X chromosome is doing  _ nothing _ for me, Honey, and those hot-pink faux-fur ass napkins just made me want to vomit,” Noah spat back. 

Heather gasped, shutting her mouth and going back to her grapefruit, “Whatever… like I care about what some idiot in a blue sweater has to say,” she grumbled. 

“I didn’t know you could have three X chromosomes… how do you feel about two, then?” Owen asked, pondering as he licked his plate clean. 

“She only  _ has _ two,” Noah laughed, “I meant that I don’t like girls.” 

“Oh… like Ezekiel? He said something like… ‘Females are just naturally lesser beings, eh, ‘s not my fault we’re better’... I don’t think that’s true, and it’s definitely not very nice,” Owen said, frowning because he really liked having Noah as a close friend and he didn’t wanna be friends with somebody like Ezekiel. 

“No, he’s a sexist prick, I like girls just fine, they have their moments… I mean I don’t ‘like-like’ them,” Noah explained. 

“Ohhhh, you’re a ‘lone wolf’ type of dude, that’s cool! More power to ya, Little Buddy!” Owen cheered until Noah grabbed one of his hands. 

“No, Owen, I mean I like  **_boys_ ** ,” 

Owen blinked, scratching his head, “Wait… that’s an option?!” he asked. 

“Since the dawn of man, yeah,” 

“W oa h… that means…  **woah** , you just blew my mind,” Owen sighed, tugging at his syrup-covered face as he looked at Alejandro, “Did you know about this?”

“If you mean about Noah… not to be rude, but I assumed so, yes. In general? Of course, I mean, so do I,” Alejandro admitted, “Not more than I  _ love _ the ladies, but I still do.” 

“Wow! This is so cool! I had no idea that was even possible!” Owen cheered, “This is great!” 

Noah chuckled, blinking and regaining focus, “Oh, we were supposed to be talking about the fact that we all got woken up by the dormitory supervisor who caught the two of you sneaking into the school building, and how the RCMP got involved when they caught you with the dean’s teeth,” he said. 

“Whoops… hehehe,” Izzy laughed, “That was super fun, wasn’t it, Eva?” 

Eva nodded, “I never thought you’d be such a fun person to cause trouble with, you up for tonight?” she asked. 

“Y e ah, we’re totally gonna steal the dean’s cranberry pills… Oooo, or her omega-3s!” Izzy giggled. 

“What do the two of you have against the dean?” Trent asked, eating his pancakes. 

“She said my skirt was too short, said that I have no soul, and made a comment about how Eva’s weight training makes her look ‘unbecoming for a well-to-do young lady’, so now we’re gonna make her life hell!” Izzy laughed, fist-bumping Eva.

“Sounds fair,” Trent agreed. 

**_BRRRRRING!_ **

“See you in English, buddy!” Owen said, smiling as he patted Noah on the shoulder and hurried out of the dining hall. 

Noah sighed, grabbing Sasha’s leash and his backpack as he walked out of the dining hall door, a soft smile on his face. 

In the history classroom, Mr.Över was blathering on about the foundation of what would eventually become the RCMP, while his entire class outside of Sierra and Cody were distracted by something else. 

“Pssst, do you have any idea what he’s talking about?” Lindsay asked Gwen, “I got distracted looking at a makeup catalogue.” 

“He’s talking about the foundation of the RCMP,” Gwen yawned, “But he’s being very boring, so I have definitely not focused enough on any of the details.”

“I know, this class is so  _ boring _ … except  _ Tyler _ is here,” Lindsay sighed, pressing her hands to her cheeks. 

“Uhh… I’m right here,” Tyler chuckled, spinning a couple of pens on his fingertips, “This class really is super lame… who needs to hear about the RCMP anyways?” 

“If you disruptive youths are finished complaining about how  _ boring _ my class is, I did ask a question about what it takes to efficiently police a nation?” Mr.Över asked, folding his arms. 

“Gentrification, unnecessary amounts of violence and poorly distributed immunities and weapons to uneducated people with power complexes?” Sierra asked, blinking with a knowing smile on her face. 

Mr. Över sighed, nodding and waving Sierra off as he sat down at his desk, popping two pills and sipping his coffee, “Lecture over, independent work for the remainder of the period,” he said. 

Lindsay raised her hand, “Can I go to the bathroom?” she asked, getting a nod in response.

Tyler raised his hand, “C-can I go too?” he asked, receiving another nod, albeit from a more suspicious face. 

The two teens walked to the bathrooms, Lindsay going into the girls’ bathroom and Tyler sneakily following with Lindsay’s guarantee that they wouldn’t get in trouble. 

“So uhm… I’ve been meaning to say something to you for a while now, well- not a while, we’ve only been at school for a couple weeks, but you’re like… really pretty,” Tyler said.

“You really think so?” Lindsay asked, blushing as she brushed her hair, “My last boyfriend wouldn’t shut up about how huge my thighs are and how I needed to stop eating chocolate, and white sugar, and white flour, and all this crazy stuff… he gave me this weird tea and it totally emptied me out.” 

“That’s awful… no dude should ever treat you like that… and you’re perfect just the way you are,” Tyler said, “Your body is your business and like maybe your doctor’s business.” 

“That’s so true! You’re so  _ smart _ !” Lindsay sighed, “You get me, you’re like the first guy that ever really  _ got _ me, y’know?” 

Tyler fiddled with his hands, sitting on the row of sinks, “Can you keep a secret?” he asked. 

“Totally!” Lindsay said, clapping. 

Tyler unzipped his red hoodie and peeled off his gray T-shirt, revealing his bare chest, where underneath his pecs, he had two scars on opposite sides. 

“Ooo… that’s actually really cool… Did you get into an accident? Those look kind of like my mom’s scars!” Lindsay rambled. 

“Sorta, when I was born, the doctors and everybody thought I was a girl, but as I got older I realized that I was a boy… so my parents changed my name and about a year ago I had a couple really weird surgeries,” Tyler explained, “But I’m totally 100% a boy.” 

“Wow, that’s really cool! Okay, Tyler, I promise I won’t tell anybody!” Lindsay clapped, “I had, like,  _ no _ idea, I just thought you were a really cool guy, and like- super cute! Ooo, can I ask a kinda rude question?” 

Tyler nodded, biting his lip. 

“Does it hurt when you get hit in the… you know?” Lindsay asked, pointing to her crotch, blushing a little. 

“Uhm, sorta, but not as much as when someone who was born a dude gets hit there, I sorta play pretend that it hurts real bad so nobody gets suspicious,” Tyler said, pressing his hands into his thighs, “So uhm, I just wanted to say that I really appreciate you being chill about this, and that I really like you.” 

Lindsay squealed, “You do?! Oh my god me too!” 

Tyler grinned, “Seriously? Do you wanna, y’know, go out with me? As like my girlfriend?” he asked. 

“Eeeeee! Totally!” Lindsay squealed, giving Tyler a kiss on the cheek, “Oh my god this is the best thing that’s happened to be in a bathroom since that one time in grade 7 when all my friends told me my bra was like 4 sizes too small!” 

Tyler flushed a dark pink and flopped onto his back against the sinks. 

**_BRRRRRING!_ **

“Uhm, excuse me? Hate to interrupt the sentimental moment, but you’ve been in here for a whole other period, we’ve gotta go to gym,” Gwen said from the doorway. 

“Oh snap! Heard we’re playin’ dodgeball today! C’mon, Linds!” Tyler laughed, scooping Lindsay into his arms and running out of the bathroom to the gymnasium, with Gwen slowly following after them. 

In the gym, the teens were lined up into their usual teams on opposite sets of bleachers. 

“Today, we will be playing dodgeball, and the first rule of dodgeball is-”

“Do not talk about dodgeball?” Noah asked, making Owen laugh as Chris rolled his eyes. 

“As I was saying, catch the ball, the thrower is out, get hit with a ball, you’re out,” Chris explained, “Only five of you can play on your team’s side at a time, and one person will need to sit out every two games.” 

Courtney raised her hand. 

“Courtney?” 

“I would like to report that our team is missing a player,” Courtney scoffed, folding her arms as she tugged at her gym shorts. 

“Duncan stuck around after English and asked me if he could go to the nurse, if he shows up, he shows up,” Chris sighed, “Pick your starting lineup, people!” 

“Why did Duncan ask to go to the nurse?” Courtney asked. 

“Poor guy was up all night cause of Zeke’s snoring and the RCMP incident,” DJ explained, glaring at Ezekiel, “Then at about 2 in the morning he went into the bathroom to blow chunks, I had to help him tie his shoes before breakfast.” 

Just as DJ finished speaking, a pale and disheveled Duncan wandered into the gymnasium, throwing a hall pass at Chris as though it was a throwing star before collapsing on the Killer Owls’ bleachers. 

“Wake me up and it’ll be the last thing you do,” Duncan droned, falling asleep. 

Tyler winced, shuddering as he stood at the starting line, “I love dodgeball, this is sick!” he cheered. 

“Ooo, I so totally wanna play the first round!” Lindsay cheered, jumping up and down, “I just got some brand new sparkly pink gym shoes! They get really good traction!” 

“W ow… she even understands sneakers… I’m smitten, Bro,” Tyler whispered, grinning like an idiot. 

“I’ll sit out the first two rounds, I’m in no mood to have my sternum broken today,” Noah scoffed, leaning back in his seat on the bleachers with a book from the library. 

“Is  _ everyone _ ready?” Chris asked, looking at the teams as they nodded, “Then GO!” 

Tyler grinned, spinning his arm that held the ball around and swinging it until it hit Sadie in the face on the Killer Owls’ bleacher, “Oops… sorry, Sadie!” he called. 

“That oughtta smear the makeup,” Chris chuckled. 

“Let’s see if you can hit somebody on the Gophers’ team!” Courtney snapped, shoving a ball into Tyler’s hands again, not noticing Owen’s thumping steps heading toward them until a ball was launched at Tyler’s abdomen, sending him flying into the gymnasium wall. 

Noah looked up from his book, clapping, “Way to go, Owen!” he cheered, throwing a fist in the air before going back to his book. 

“You’re out, Sweatband!” Chris called, blowing his whistle as Tyler hobbled over to the Killer Owls’ bleachers, giving Lindsay a curt and bumbling wave when she looked his way, sitting down on the bleacher next to Duncan. 

“You okay?” Tyler asked, blinking as Duncan blearily stared at him, snarling angrily until he had to fight back a gag, crawling over to Tyler and resting his head in the other boy’s lap, inducing an awestruck gasp from Tyler, who promptly decided not to object, clutching his own stomach from the impact. 

“My turn, I got this,” Harold assured, grabbing his ball and slamming it on the gymnasium floor, it bounced and while Leshawna- who had approached to catch the ball- was too busy laughing at the ridiculous throwing method, the ball fell back down and landed on top of her head. 

“I- wait, what?” 

“In the words of the great Gene Wilder, ‘Make ‘em laugh’,” Harold said, smiling at Leshawna as he spun a ball on his finger- well, he attempted to. 

“What am I supposed to do with the ball agai-”Lindsay asked, only for a ball to come flying at her face, sending her back over to the bleachers. 

“Ugh, that’s enough!” Heather groaned, flinging her ball into the Killer Owls’ bleachers, hitting Tyler in the groin- though his groin was obstructed by Duncan’s head. 

Duncan woke up and blinked, pulling himself into a sitting position and opening his mouth to spew obscenities and threats at Heather, only to gag, his cheeks bulging, “Yo, since Polly Pocket over there hit me in the head, could she be so kind as to grab me a bucket?” he asked, “I don’t wanna ralph all over Jockstrap’s pants.” 

“Puke in your backpack, Punk Rock,” Heather laughed, “Party too hard?” 

“Supply closet is behind the basketball hoop, grab him a bucket or you get detention,” Chris ordered, smiling as he blew his whistle to continue the game. 

Courtney threw her ball and was confident that it would hit until Owen grabbed it, sending her over to the bleachers. 

DJ tossed a ball and hit Owen in the chest, and then throwing one that hit Gwen, leaving no one other than Cody on the Gophers’ side of the court. 

“Easy out, guys,” Courtney added, folding her arms until Cody threw two balls with a wild swing, hitting DJ and Katie, sending them both onto the bleachers in one fowl swoop. 

The Screaming Gophers cheered, clapping as they grouped up to form their next strategy. 

Heather walked back to the bleachers, throwing a bucket at Duncan, “There, you big baby!” she yelled, turning back to her team, “Okay Noah, your turn.” 

“Uhm, you guys are doing a good job, and we need someone to sit out for two games anyways, my heart medication doesn’t kick in for another ten minutes and I kinda value my life,” Noah said, flipping through his book. 

“I have had it with all of these excuses, you’re like Owen but without the blubber!” Heather snapped, stomping her feet like a petulant brat. 

Owen frowned, wiping his eyes, “Wow Heather, you’re so nice,” he muttered, sitting on the bleachers next to Noah, who offered him a tissue and wiped his falling tears with his thumb, “Thanks, Buddy.” 

“Heather, as beautiful and virtuous as it is to value fairness and equal effort, I doubt your parents would be very happy if they found out they had to pay legal expenses to shirk you of your responsibility for the death of one of your peers,” Alejandro explained, tilting Heather’s chin up as he looked into her eyes. 

“Whatever, I hate when you’re right about things,” Heather grumbled, blushing as she returned to the lineup. 

“I love that you hate when I’m right,” Alejandro sighed, waggling his fingers at Heather as he sat on the bleachers again. 

“Tyler, come on, if you’re going to dominate this game, now’s your shot,” Courtney scoffed. 

“Then someone needs to come be a human cushion for Duncan,” Tyler replied, Sadie volunteering and sitting next to Duncan, letting his head rest on her thigh. 

Tyler threw four balls, three of them going off the wall and hitting random things, and the fourth hitting Lindsay smack dab in the face. 

“Oh my god O wwww, my face! Does it look bad?!” Lindsay cried, holding her face with both hands, “It hurts!” 

Tyler crossed the court barrier and held Lindsay’s face in his hands, “Nah… it looks painful, but you still look super cute,” he muttered, blushing. 

“Really?” Lindsay asked. 

“Totally,” Tyler agreed, feeling Trent hit him in the back with a ball, “You wanna go for a walk?” 

Lindsay thought for a moment and then grinned, “Yeah! Y ayy!” she giggled, hugging Tyler as both of them walked out of the gymnasium. 

“What?!” Heather snapped. 

“I didn’t give them permission to do that… but I’ll allow it, young love is beautiful,” Chris said, shrugging. 

The game finished through, and the Owls lost, making them down 2-0, with the best of five games winning the competition, extra credit, and a special treat at dinner. 

“Okay, this isn’t working… we need an angle, we need someone ruthless and wayward,” Courtney listed, pacing back and forth near the Owls’ bleachers, before turning to Duncan, “Someone needs to wake him up.” 

The entirety of the Killer Owls held their hands up, refusing to do it. 

“Harold, you do it,” Courtney instructed, “If he does end up killing you, we can afford to lose you.” 

“I can’t,” Leshawna piped up, covering her mouth with both hands as she realized what she’d said. 

Harold frowned, “No way!” he argued. 

“Fine… I suppose we’ll all do it together, then,” Courtney sighed, grabbing a ruler from her backpack and poking Duncan with it, the rest of the team behind her. 

Duncan grabbed the ruler and took a deep breath before snapping it in half, his black and blue sweater was damp and darkened with sweat, and his eyes looked pink, as though he’d been crying, “The building better be on fire,” he growled, sitting up. 

“We are down, 2-nothing, we need your help to win,  _ please _ ,” Courtney pleaded, folding her hands. 

Duncan slowly swung himself to his feet, bracing himself against the bleachers, “Okay… but you do what I tell you, got it?” he asked, rubbing the side of his head. 

The Killer Owls nodded, Courtney, Duncan, Geoff, Justin, and DJ lining up on their side of the court. 

“Okay Noah, that’s enough, your turn,” Heather scoffed, “Or if you’re going to be a benchwarmer, you could at least regard the game with some enthusiasm.” 

“I’ll do my best cheerleader impression,” Noah laughed, almost finished with his book. 

On the court, the Killer Owls mowed down each person on the Gophers’ side with all of their balls at once until they won the game, and then they won another, leaving the two teams at a stalemate tie. 

“Woohoo! Let’s go guys! Way to throw ‘em!” Noah cheered, fist in the air as he rubbed Sasha with his free hand. 

Owen walked out onto the court with the final lineup, grimacing as he cracked his knuckles, “Let’s G O!” he yelled, chucking a ball at DJ. 

One by one, the Killer Owls were put out, until it was just Duncan, Owen, and Harold on the court. Duncan swaying on his feet as he tried to maintain hold of his ball. 

“You got this, Owen!” Noah cheered, clapping as Owen waved at him, “W ow…” 

Duncan steadied himself, getting hit in the head, chest, and side by balls, walking back over to the bleachers and hurling into his bucket, “We’ll scavenge your room to find your will, Harold,” he called out before lurching forward into his bucket again. 

Owen gripped his balls with his chubby fingers, flinging them at Harold only for him to dodge each one. 

“C’mon Owen! You can do it!” Noah cheered again. 

“You’re very enthusiastic all of a sudden, suspicious,” Alejandro laughed. 

“Oh shut up, go over your French vocab flash cards again,” Noah grumbled, flipping through his book. 

“I’m not the one reading  _ Romanceology: The Art of Getting Your Crush To Like You _ ,” Alejandro teased, playfully shoving Noah, “I suppose Owen is the aforementioned crush, yes?” 

Noah’s eyes narrowed, “I’ll tell you about it at art club, shh!” 

Owen hurled one last ball, sending Harold flying into the gym wall with his hands around his abdomen, only to reveal that he’d caught the ball, making the Gophers lose the match. 

“Way to go Owls! You get 5 points of juicy extra credit, bragging rights,  _ and _ , double chocolate milkshakes for dessert at dinner!” Chris announced, “Heather, please return the balls to the supply closet. See you crazy kids in French, it’s vocab quiz time!” 

**_BRRRRING!_ **

“Uhm… I forgot… what vocabulary unit are we studying now? I think my cards got jumbled up!” Alejandro muttered, grabbing his backpack, “I’m going to fail, this is so embarrassing.”

Noah rolled his eyes, handing Alejandro his vocab list, “Give it a once-over before class, he’ll probably just start talking and we’ll do some crazy review game challenge instead,” he whispered, walking out of the gymnasium. 

“You guys need help?” Geoff asked DJ and Courtney, who were helping Duncan out of the gymnasium, “Woah, Dude… you don’t look so hot.” 

“Keep your trap shut about this, Pink Sweater, I just took a few too many balls to the stomach,” Duncan muttered, walking to their French classroom with Courtney balancing him. 

In the French classroom, Chris was sitting at his desk, going over the homework sheets while the class was distracted amidst themselves, “Okay, this is crazy. You Canada-born socialite spawn are bumming me out! Tyler, Alejandro, Cody, Geoff, DJ, Heather,  _ Duncan _ ,  **_Eva_ ** , this work is atrocious, you guys have the skill of a French baby, what is going on here?!” he asked. 

“I wasn’t born here!” Alejandro argued. 

“My parents don’t speak French around me!” Tyler whined. 

Geoff and DJ blushed in embarrassment. 

“This is a disgrace, but y’know what, vocab quiz time!” Chris cheered, grinning. 

“Wait, Chris! We all got talking this morning at breakfast and thought it would be a great idea to induce some healthy competition with a review game!” Heather offered, pinning her hair into a ponytail. 

“Hmmm… I do like the sound of that, okay people, I need two scorekeepers! We’re playing ‘are you smarter than a French baby’ again!” Chris announced, clapping as he drew a score sheet on the whiteboard, glancing back at the class, “Duncan, dude, set up two chairs and lie down in the back.” 

“But I wanna play,” Duncan argued, folding his arms. 

“Dude, I’ll give you an A on the quiz, just lie down,” Chris ordered, pointing to the back of the room, “If you puke on my beautiful whiteboard or my lovely ensemble, there’ll be hell to pay, back of the classroom.”

The rest of the day flashed by until school was let out, and a large handful of students were in the art classroom for art club, making paintings while Chris went on Facebook at his desk. 

“So… about you and the oaf,” Alejandro laughed, painting a picture of Heather as an angel. 

“ _ Owen _ ,” Noah corrected, “I just… he makes me feel like I’m floating on clouds, my heart feels so strange and like it’s beating out of sync whenever he carries me or smiles at me.” 

“Is that… good?” Alejandro asked. 

“Last time I had that feeling I ended up with a microchip in my aortic valve,” Noah muttered, his face darkening, “It feels so good, but so weird, I don’t even know what to  _ say _ to him sometimes.” 

“Well, I think you should tell him how you feel,” Alejandro said, “It is only fair, he should know you admire him in such a manner, I’m sure he’d love it.” 

“Why don’t you tell Juicy Couture how you feel about her then?” Noah asked, raising an eyebrow as he painted a picture of a marshmallow with yellow frosting on top of it. 

“It is complicated, I will make my move when the time is right, she is like a dangerous shark, and I need to create a trust with her and put out some bait before she’ll approach me,” Alejandro explained. 

“Of course, what an elusive beast,” Noah chuckled. 

“Indeed she is,” Alejandro swooned, his eyes sparkling wetly as he stared at the painting. 

“Alright, paint for brains, club session is over, head on downstairs for dinner!” Chris announced, leaning back in his seat, “Store your paintings on the left side of the classroom to dry and clean off your brushes and palettes.” 

In the dining hall, dinner was spaghetti- no meatballs- with garlic bread, pizza also available. Noah was eating his garlic bread, having given his pizza slices to Owen, and he gently put one of his hands on Owen’s knee. 

“So… how was art club?” Owen asked, sauce staining the area around his mouth. 

“It was nice, Alejandro and I had an interesting conversation and I’m almost finished with my painting,” Noah said, finishing his bread and drinking his soda, “How was reading the next chapter of  _ To Kill a Mockingbird _ without me?” 

“Oh I didn’t… I wanted to wait for tonight… so you could read it to me,” Owen said, blushing as he ate another slice of pizza. 

“Awww, that’s really cute, Big Guy,” Noah laughed. 

“You’re cute,” Owen replied, blushing.

“Really?” Noah asked, taking his glasses off and cleaning them. 

“If the two of you are finished, I’d happily ask you to redirect your attention to the Killer Owls’ table, I believe something interesting is about to take place,” Alejandro stated, turning around. 

“What, Courtney’s going to beat someone in the head with her  _ tray _ again? O oo, I’m so scared!” Heather scoffed, folding her arms. 

Izzy looked around, grabbing Heather’s garlic bread and scarfing it down, “Hehehe.” 

At the Killer Owls’ table, they were celebrating their victory with their chocolate shakes- the regular dessert was vanilla cake slices- and chatting. Except for Duncan, who had given his dinner up and was taking slow sips of his shake. 

“Are you going to be a pathetic  _ mope _ this whole time, Punk Rock?!” Eva asked. 

“Well excuse me for having a sore stomach,” Duncan grumbled, rolling his eyes.

“He helped us win the game, you could afford to be a little nicer,” Courtney corrected, working on math homework while she ate her pizza, “I am worried though, Duncan, what did the nurse say?” 

“What, are we friends or something?” Duncan gagged, sliding his shake away, “Since when do you care? She said to come back if I’m still throwing up- which I am not- and that it’s probably just ‘the stress of being away from my parents’ which I think is horseshit.” 

“I see us as friends… a little, even if you get on my nerves sometimes, I apologized for hitting you in the head… and throwing my shrimp in your eye, can we be friends?” Courtney asked. 

Duncan thought for a moment, “Sure, and I don’t really mind, I roughhouse with my friends all the time, it’s just part of the gig,” he said, smiling, “We’re cool, Toots.” 

Courtney smiled, “Great… but also the nurse  _ is _ full of horseshit, you look awful.” 

“Gee, thanks,” Duncan growled, clutching his stomach and hurling his shake all over the pants of Geoff, who was sitting next to him. 

“Dude, gross!” Geoff yelled, “This is rank!” 

“I mean, it’s basically just chocolate, it’s not that bad,” Leshawna argued, sharing her shake with Harold. 

“Easy for you to say!” Geoff argued back, folding his arms. 

“Okay, come on, let’s get you a ginger ale and I’ll help you to your dorm room,” Courtney said, helping Duncan up and walking out of the dining hall, approaching the exit door only to be stopped by Gwen.

“I’ll come with you,” Gwen offered, clearing her plate and grabbing her things to accompany Courtney and Duncan. 

“Oh… okay… thanks,” Courtney said, “Gwendolyn, right?” 

“Just… just Gwen,” Gwen replied, leaving the dining hall with Courtney and Duncan, fiddling with her fingers. 

“Alright pupils! Grab your dessert and head to the dormitory wing!” A supervisor said, clapping with enthusiasm.

In dormitory B1, Duncan was curled up on his bunk with a glass of ginger ale, a blanket, and a hot water bottle. 

“You gonna be okay tonight, man?” DJ asked. 

“Mhm… there’s nothing left to puke… I’m fine,” Duncan yawned, taking a sip of his soda, “Thanks for snagging me the ginger ale, by the way.” 

“No problem, hope you feel better,” DJ replied, getting into bed himself. 

“Thanks… me too,” Duncan yawned, setting the ginger ale on top of the bookshelf near the bunk bed before slowly falling asleep. 

In dorm B3, Noah had finished reading the next chapter of  _ To Kill a Mockingbird _ , and everyone in the dormitory had settled down to go to sleep, right before he shut his eyes, Noah felt tugging on his comforter.

“Hey Noah?” 

“Yes, Owen?”

“I uhh...have something I wanna tell you,”

“What is it?”

“I can’t remember…” 

“Okay, Goodnight, Owen-”

“Hey Noah?” 

“Yes Owen?” 

“I remembered… I’m pretty sure I like boys,”

“That’s great, Owen, it feels nice to know things about yourself, I feel honored that you told me,” 

“Hey Noah?” 

“ _ Yes _ , Owen?” 

“I’m pretty sure I like you,” 

Noah bit his lip, feeling a pang in his stomach as his face broke into a smile and his cheeks darkened, “Hey Owen?” 

“Yeah, Noah?” 

“I like you too,” 

“Like  _ that _ ?”

“Yup,” 

“Hey Noah?” 

“Yes, Owen?” 

“Do you wanna be my boyfriend?” 

“ **_Yes_ ** … I’d like that,” 

“Yay! That’s awesome,” 

“I’ll say,” 

“... Hey Noah?” 

“Yes, Owen?” 

“Now that you’re my boyfriend, do I have to start cleaning my bellybutton?”

“I mean… you should be cleaning your bellybutton anyways, so yes,” 

“Aww… okay,” 

“Alright, that’s enough. Goodnight,  _ boyfriend _ ,” 

Owen blushed, “G’night  _ boyfriend _ ,” 

“Goodnight, idiots,” Alejandro grumbled from his bed.

“Goodnight, Moon,” Tyler yawned, falling asleep as all three of the other boys stared at him in confusion as the moon shone brightly in the sky. 


	5. Losses and Lock-Ins Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Who’s supervising this kiddie get-together anyhow? Bunhead from admissions? Mrs. Zahlen? The dean?” Duncan laughed. 
> 
> “Oh, nah, Mr. McLean’s gonna chaperone,” Tyler butted in, swiping the ball out of Duncan’s grasp, “It’s gonna be wild, we’re supposed to play spin the bottle and seven minutes in heaven and stuff, it’s gonna be fun, you should come!” 
> 
> Duncan looked over at Chris, who was covered in burger grease and drinking a milkshake, “Alright, alright, I’ll go, just get off my case about it,” he sighed, “Is class over yet?” 

“What is up, Alejandro?! Good Morning!” Tyler cheered, bouncing around as he hurried to put on his hoodie, “French test today!” 

“You are normally not so excited this early in the morning, my friend,” Alejandro yawned, rubbing his eyes as he peeled himself out of bed, “It’s so early, why did you wake us up?” 

“Actually, class is in ten minutes, you slept through breakfast,” Noah chuckled, in Owen’s arms as he read a book from the library, “You stayed up all night cramming.” 

Alejandro blushed, looking at his pillow to see his French textbook soaked with drool, “Ughhh, this is embarrassing,” he grumbled, putting on deodorant and peeling on his dark pinkish-red polo shirt, “I haven’t even had the appropriate time to brush my hair.” 

“Well, you might want to hurry,” Noah said, “Here, I’ll help you.” 

Alejandro leaned over and Noah brushed his hair, smoothing it out until it draped down his back, “Thank you, it’s much appreciated,” he said, pulling on his backpack and hurrying out of the dorm with the rest of the boys in B3. 

In gym, the class had a free period, and the boys on the Killer Owls were playing basketball. 

“Ten bucks says you can’t get in a slam dunk, Harold,” Duncan scoffed, dribbling the ball around and watching Harold stare at the net.

“You’re on,” Harold said, grabbing the ball and walking a few feet back before sprinting at the net and leaping his height and thensome into the air, slamming the ball into the net.

“Holy  **_shit_ ** ,” Duncan gasped, “That dude’s like 5’7’’, this was supposed to be an easy 10 bucks.” 

“W oah,” Tyler mused, smiling in admiration, “That’s  _ awesome _ .” 

Their pride in Harold was quickly put to a halt when the freckled boy lost his grip on the rim of the net and plummeted onto the gymnasium floor. 

“You okay, Bro?” Geoff asked, helping Harold to his feet and checking the back of his head for bleeding, “You good?” 

Harold wobbled on his feet, blinking, “Uhm… did I get the dunk?” he mumbled, rubbing the side of his head. 

“You totally got the dunk, Dude!” Geoff cheered, looking at Harold and realizing that one of his pupils was half the size of his eye, “Uh oh… yo, TYLER!” 

Tyler walked over, “What’s goin’ on? What happened?” 

Geoff turned Harold over to Tyler, gesturing to his eyes, “Is this normal? Like, is he good?” 

Tyler gasped, “No, holy shit, Dude, whatever you do just breathe,” he instructed, looking at Duncan, “Duncan, go get Mr. McLean.”

Duncan hurried over to the back of the gymnasium, where Chris was eating a cheeseburger, and poked him on the shoulder. 

“What do you want? Balls and sticks are in the supply closet, if anyone asks, I forgot my lesson plan,” Chris yawned. 

“Dude, Harold hit his head falling off of the basketball hoop, we need a pass to take him to the nurse,” Duncan said. 

“Ehhh… no, get someone else to take him, your basketball game was entertaining me,” Chris said, handing Duncan a pass and waving him off as he finished his burger. 

Duncan groaned, walking back to Tyler, “He said to get someone else to take ‘im.” 

Leshawna tapped Duncan on the back, biting her lip as she looked at Harold, “Excuse me, I’ll take him,” she announced, smiling as Tyler let go of Harold, hoisting the redhead into her arms, “How’s it goin, Baby?” 

Harold blinked slowly, his eyes glazed over as he stared at Leshawna, “Guardian angel… w ow,” he sighed, slowly beginning to doze off until Leshawna smacked him on the cheek. 

“Nuh-uh-uh, you can’t go to sleep on me… let’s talk, what’s your favourite movie?” 

Harold pondered, “Spirited Away,” he muttered, “You?” 

“Hmm, I think I’d have to pick The Cheetah Girls or somethin’, but I’ve seen that Spirited Away, it’s a pretty movie- what’s your favourite song?” 

“Anything by DMX,” Harold yawned, not able to see near-literal hearts sparkle in Leshawna’s eyes. 

“Oh my god, for real? Me too!” Leshawna cheered quietly as she carried Harold out of the gymnasium, “Finally, a white boy with some  _ taste _ .” 

“I know nothing of taste, only history,” Harold rambled, “I’ve seen pictures of the Egyptian goddess Nefertiti, and you are her spitting image, beauty that is unimaginable beyond the insurmountable secrets hidden in the Egyptian sand.” 

Leshawna wiped away a stray tear, “Baby, I didn’t understand half of what you said, but it sure was cute.” 

Geoff, Duncan, and Tyler were staring out of the gymnasium door as they vanished out of sight. 

“Man, I’m bored… you guys going to the lock-in tonight?” Geoff asked, grabbing the ball and dribbling again. 

“That stupid thing? No way, lock-ins are so painfully middle school,” Duncan scoffed, smoothing out his mohawk. 

“Come on, please?! It’ll be fun!” Geoff pleaded, “Like basically all the 10th years are comin’, it’ll be awesome!” 

“There aren’t gonna be any 9th years, right?” Duncan asked. 

“There might be a few of them… don’t worry about it, we’re supposed to play games and chill out, it’s gonna be tight!” Geoff argued. 

“Who’s supervising this kiddie get-together anyhow? Bunhead from admissions? Mrs. Zahlen? The  **_dean_ ** ?” Duncan laughed. 

“Oh, nah, Mr. McLean’s gonna chaperone,” Tyler butted in, swiping the ball out of Duncan’s grasp, “It’s gonna be wild, we’re supposed to play spin the bottle and seven minutes in heaven and stuff, it’s gonna be fun, you should come!” 

Duncan looked over at Chris, who was covered in burger grease and drinking a milkshake, “Alright, alright, I’ll go, just get off my case about it,” he sighed, “Is class over yet?” 

**_BRRRING!_ **

“Woahh, good call, Bro!” Geoff cheered, “French test time!” 

“I’m so stoked, I studied and I’m ready to rock this thing!” Tyler shouted, beating his chest as he ran out of the gymnasium singing ‘Eye of the Tiger’. 

“H-hey Noah?” Owen asked, rocking back and forth on his heels, “May I do the honors?” 

Noah blushed, “Just because we’re dating doesn’t mean you get to be all sappy about carrying me around, you goon,” he sighed, “You’re my  _ valiant steed _ .” 

“Oooo yay!” Owen giggled, whinnying like a horse and galavanting down the hallway to the French classroom, Sasha walking alongside him holding her leash in her mouth. 

In French, the entire class was silent as they diligently worked on their tests, pencils moving at top speeds to scrawl out words and fill in bubbles. Well, except for Alejandro, who was chewing on his pencil and vibrating in his seat, unable to come up with any answers. 

“Twenty-five minutes left, kids, let’s pick up the pace here,” Chris scoffed from behind his book, drumming his fingers against his desk, vaguely annoyed. 

Alejandro tossed his pencil sneakily onto the floor, getting up to retrieve it and kneeling next to Heather while he pretended to tie his shoes, “Psst, would you happen to know the answer to number one?” he whispered. 

Heather huffed, ignoring him. 

Alejandro sighed, returning to his seat and staring at the paper in frustration, filling in a few wild guesses before giving up and handing his test to Chris. 

Noah leaned back in his seat, watching Owen get up to hand his test in and scribbling Owen’s name in his French notebook. When Owen returned to his seat, Noah leaned over, “That was so easy, wasn’t it?” he asked. 

“ _ Trop facile _ ,” Owen giggled, hugging Noah, “You going to the lock-in tonight?” 

“Obviously, you’re going to be there,” Noah muttered, running his fingers through Owen’s hair, making the blonde blush and giggle, “You’re adorable-” 

“Can it with the chatter, dudes, people are trying to take a test,” Chris ordered, putting his book down and starting to grade the tests. 

Noah rolled his eyes, whispering quietly into Owen’s ear as they talked about the lock-in. 

“Isn’t your cousin supposed to be there?” Noah whispered. 

“I think so, he might be, I hope not, though,” 

“Dudes, quiet down or you can sit in the hallway,” Chris scoffed, “Maybe if you spent less time chatting and more time reading the textbook, you’d be doing better in my class.” 

“I have an A,” Noah argued. 

“Me too!”

Chris rolled his eyes, “Fiine, but you speak in French for the rest of the class period.”

“ _ Pas des soucis, nous avons magnifique conversations en français tout le temps, vrai, Gontran? _ ” Noah smiled at Owen with lowered eyelids. 

“ _ Ouais, Lucas _ ,” Owen giggled, holding Noah’s hand as they continued to whisper to each other. 

“Would you keep your eyes off of my paper?” Courtney hissed. 

“Hey, I’m already finished, I was looking at your nails, Dollface,” Duncan replied, getting up from his seat with Courtney and turning their tests in to Chris, a good chunk of the remaining students following suit and moving onto doing their own thing with the remainder of the period. 

Tyler hurried to Chris’ desk, his paper being the last one for Chris to grade, and rushed back to his seat, peering over and looking at Lindsay’s cosmetology book. 

“Alright, kids, all of your tests are graded, I need someone to help me hand them out,”

Courtney jumped up in her seat, eagerly waving her hand around, “Mr. McLean, do I get extra points on my test if I help?” 

“No, you do not, but come up here and get them, Courtney,” Chris stated, leaning back in his seat and looking at his clipboard, “So, some news, we got four perfect scores- two that are above that for correcting a mistake I made, so give a round of applause for Noah, Owen, Isabelle… I mean Izzy, and Gwen!” 

The entire classroom clapped eagerly, except for Courtney, who slammed her graded test on her desk and glared at the ‘92%’ in the upper right hand corner as though looking at it would change the score. 

“Those of you who received a score poorer than a D-, and you know who you are, I will be sending your parents an email,” 

Courtney snickered, handing Alejandro his paper, “I bet your parents are gonna enjoy that email,” she grinned at him and laughed, continuing to weave through the desks. 

Alejandro shook in his seat, sweat dripping from his forehead as he stared at his test, “Mr. McLean? I-I don’t think you wrote the proper percentage on my test,” he said, trying to remain calm as his hands shook. 

“What does it say?” 

“It… it’s just a 2, that can’t be right,” 

“Ohhhh, it isn’t, you got me, it’s supposed to be a 5, it’s a 5 on my board,” 

“5 out of the 60 questions!?” 

“No, 5 percent, you only got three questions right,” 

Alejandro bit down on his pencil as half of the class laughed at him, turning to Tyler, who was silently rocking back and forth in his seat, he hoped he could commiserate with someone, “I assume you didn’t score very well, correct? Misery loves company,” 

Tyler snapped to attention, “Hm? Oh, sorry Alejandro, I got a B+, you should have studied or somethin’,” 

Alejandro snapped, pounding his fists on his desk, “I did study!” 

The entire class went silent. 

**_BRRRRING!_ **

Alejandro bit back tears, grabbing his backpack and rushing out of the classroom down the hallway. 

“Woohoo! B+! Thanks for tutoring me, Lindsay!” Tyler cheered, walking to science class with his arm extending around Lindsay’s back. 

“Oh, no problem, Tyler! It was fun, I got to read all of those cute fashion catalogues to someone who was listening to every single word!” 

The two nervous teens leaned in for a hug until Heather sped past them, heading to the bathroom with her fists balled at her sides. 

Outside of the bathroom was Alejandro, sobbing as he clutched his failed test, his shoulders shaking and tears soaking the collar of his shirt.

“What are you doing?” 

Alejandro peered up, his eyes burnt pink and red from crying and tears streaming down his face, hiccuping and whimpering violently as he tried to calm down, “Leave me alone!” he yelled, his voice cracking as he tucked his head into his knees, “Don’t look at me!” 

Heather tilted Alejandro’s head up, wiping his tears away with her fingers, “It is not the end of the world, I got a D-, there will be other tests,” she stated. 

“You don’t understand!” Alejandro cried, wrenching away from her, “What leverage do I have if I’m a failure?! What reason does anyone have to like me?!” 

**_SLAP!_ **

“Get a hold of yourself!” Heather helped Alejandro up and walked him into the girls’ bathroom, telling Alejandro to get on top of the row of sinks as she opened her makeup bag. 

Alejandro sniffled, shaking as he held the paper in his hands, swapping between being unable to look at the paper and being unable to look away from the score written in the upper right hand corner, “I’m sorry you h-had to see me like this, I must look so foolish, but I have never failed anything in my life before.” 

Heather grabbed a tissue and dabbed underneath Alejandro’s eyelids, “It’s okay, people cry… If I ever saw the Blonde Syrup Monster blubbering like this I’d laugh at him until he melted, but you’re lucky that I like you,” she said, handing him the package of tissues from her makeup bag, “Blow.” 

Alejandro blew his nose and he gulped, shuddering a little bit as he looked at Heather with shimmering tears in his eyes, “You like me?” he asked. 

“Don’t get such a big head about it, just focus on calming down,” Heather said, blinking as she reached in to give Alejandro a hug, “Come on, we’re going to science and I’m gonna tell McLean you need the rest of the day to calm down, we’re gonna go to the dining hall and get you something to eat, we can go into my dorm and you can take a nap.” 

Alejandro blinked, getting down from the sinks and following Heather out of the bathroom, “I appreciate you helping me… this is all very new and it feels so nice to have some support, I didn’t know you cared,” he sighed. 

“As far as anyone else is concerned, I don’t, so ‘Shh’,” Heather whispered, “Come on, let’s go.” 

That afternoon, in dormitory B3, Alejandro walked into the dorm, holding his backpack with sunken red eyes, walking over to his bunk and arranging his things. 

“Dude, where have you been?” Noah asked, lying in Owen’s lap while the couple did their French homework together. 

“I went to the nurse’s office after French class to calm down, nothing unusual, now I am just focused on getting ready for tonight… congratulations on your perfect scores, by the way,” Alejandro grumbled. 

“Forget the perfect scores, I had no idea you guys were dating!” Tyler said out of the blue, trying to fit his rugby ball inside of his bag for the night and getting frustrated that it didn’t fit, “Maybe I’ll just leave it here.”

“We’ve only been each other’s boyfriends for a week, but you were definitely awake when that was happening, Tyler,” Noah said, glancing over at Owen’s paper, “The  _ accent cedille _ is backwards, Lunchbox.” 

Owen blushed, “Whoops, thanks Bookcase,”

Noah blinked and turned, “Bookcase?” 

“I figured, cause you’ve got so much knowledge in your head, and you love to read, that since I’m a lunchbox, you could be a bookcase, and we could both hold our favourite things together!” 

Noah wiped away a stray tear, “You are the sweetest, cutest person I have ever met and if I wasn’t a human toothpick I would protect you with my life,” he whispered. 

Owen giggled, flopping down in his bed and bringing Noah in for a hug. 

“I can’t find any clean pajamas… I’m gonna have to wear my basketball shorts and my Space Jam tank top,” Tyler said, putting his makeshift pajamas into his bag. 

“I’ve got a fleece pair with s’mores on ‘em!” Owen cheered, “and Noah has this cute T-shirt with a Rubix cube on it and plants that are covered in airplanes!” 

The three boys turned to Alejandro, staring in silence as he pulled out a onesie designed to look like a caterpillar, complete with hood and long, thick tail. 

“What? It’s cold downstairs and I figured I would go with a more ‘cute’ approach, I need comfort right now and this is what I feel like wearing… stop staring! I can feel you judging me!” 

“Oh I’m sure The Little Mean Girl that Could in the pink panther panties is going to love seeing you in a bug onesie,” Noah scoffed, finishing up his French homework. 

“I would appreciate it if you stopped commenting on my girlfriend’s underwear,” 

“Your what now?” 

Alejandro put both hands over his mouth, “No, that is not what I meant, she isn’t my-” 

“I know who I can ask about that… valiant steed, would you mind swinging by dorm C4 before we go to the lock-in?” Noah asked, grinning as Owen nodded eagerly. 

“N o, please, I beg of you,”

“Like begging has ever stopped me,” Noah hopped into Owen’s arms, holding his bag and whistling for Sasha to follow them out into the hall. 

“I’ve got our blankets, wait for me, I gotta go to C6 to walk with Lindsay!” Tyler asked, grabbing a few folded blankets and his bags, running to catch up with them only to hit his face on the door frame before he successfully managed to move forward. 

Alejandro bit his lip, hurrying after them with his bag at his side, only to ram into Owen in the hallway. 

“Whoops! Hehe, sorry Al,” Owen laughed, avoiding Alejandro’s frustrated glare and looking over his head at Tyler. 

“They already left for the lock-in, come on,” Noah yawned, positioning himself comfortably in Owen’s arms and opening one of his books as the four young men headed to the dormitory hall’s basement.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Part Two is coming very soon, it's a lot longer so I figured I'd split the chapter in half!


	6. Losses and Lock-Ins Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Who’s supervising this kiddie get-together anyhow? Bunhead from admissions? Mrs. Zahlen? The dean?” Duncan laughed. 
> 
> “Oh, nah, Mr. McLean’s gonna chaperone,” Tyler butted in, swiping the ball out of Duncan’s grasp, “It’s gonna be wild, we’re supposed to play spin the bottle and seven minutes in heaven and stuff, it’s gonna be fun, you should come!”

In the basement of the dormitory hall, there were strings of rainbow fairy lights taped to the walls that gave off a soft glow to assist the weaker ceiling lights. Posters lined the walls and old long-forgotten flyers were taped in random places near the doors. 

Up against the longest wall sat a large folding table covered in pizza boxes- a few of them open- and bottles of soda. Above the pizza table, was a banner that said “Welcome Students!”, and a few balloons. 

Mattresses were strewn about across the floor and essentially all of the 10th-grade class was there, chatting as Chris sat in the corner drinking out of what appeared to be a paper bag.

“Wanna take that mattress near the pizza table, Big Guy?” Noah asked, gently stroking the underside of Owen’s face as the blonde smiled, nodding eagerly in response. 

Tyler hurried over to a mattress where Lindsay was brushing her hair, tripping on his way over and landing face-first on the hard basement floor. 

“Hi Tyler!” Lindsay greeted, “Are you okay?” 

Tyler peeled himself up and blinked, “Mmhm,” he positioned himself in front of Lindsay, lying across her thighs as she rubbed his head. 

“Is it okay if I braid your hair? It’s just so long and-”

“Mkay, just don’t pull too hard, my scalp is sensitive and it’ll start bleeding,” 

“I promise I won’t… it smells so good, like strawberries!” 

“That’s the conditioner I use,” 

Duncan laughed from an adjacent mattress, “Conditioner?! Are you sure you’re a dude? Men do not use conditioner,” he laughed, only to get slapped across the back of the head by DJ. 

“I use conditioner, bruh, you’re trying to say I’m not a man?” 

Duncan gulped, “No, trust me, you’re more man than I ever will be… even if you’re wearing pajamas with bunnies on them,”

“I like bunnies, man!” DJ argued, folding his arms and pouting. 

“I know, and it’s very adorable,” Duncan replied, his eyes widening as he leaned over, looking past Lindsay and Tyler at a different mattress, “Woah… dude, I’ve never seen that guy before.” 

“Who, the kid with the freckles? I think he’s a 9th year,” DJ said, pulling a stuffed rabbit out of his bag. 

“He’s got a knife that’s the same colour as his hair… he’s kinda cute,”

“I thought you were crushin’ on Courtney,” DJ said, stroking his rabbit’s fur. 

“What makes you think that? She’s my friend, sure, but we’ve been giving each other the business for like a month… I’m not into chicks like that,” Duncan explained. 

“Woah, I didn’t know, that’s all cool man, that’s great,” DJ said. 

“Well, if I was keeping you from going after Courtney, now you know you can shoot your shot,” 

DJ bit his lip, “Nahhh, I’m all good… I don’t really feel that way about anybody,” he explained, “I don’t  _ like _ people like that I guess, I’d rather just have good friends.” 

Duncan nodded, “I’m gonna go talk to the 9th year, I’ll be back, save me some pizza,” 

“Okay!” 

Across the room, on a different mattress by herself, Gwen leaned back, scribbling in one of her sketchbooks, drawing pictures of angels. 

“Excuse me,” 

Gwen looked up, biting her lip when she saw Courtney reaching out next to her, holding a bag on her shoulder and a plate piled high with pizza and breadsticks. 

“Is it cool if I sit here? All of the other mattresses are dingy and crowded, or being occupied by obnoxious boys,” Courtney brushed a piece of her hair behind her ears. 

“Oh, uhm… sure,” Gwen blinked, scooting back and patting the space next to her, “Wow… uhm… you  _ really  _ like pizza, huh?” nervous, Gwen began to anxiously scribble in her sketchbook, noticing how similar a few of the angels’ faces were to Courtney’s. 

“Oh, and what exactly is that supposed to imply?!” Courtney snapped, “Maybe I do, so what?! All food is brain food and I’m not going to be the dominating head of my own law firm if I don’t eat. Unlike a lot of these vapid upper middle class sheep, I have more important goals for myself than being a size 4 in pants!” 

Seeing water welling up at the bottom of Courtney’s eyes, Gwen felt her heart ache. This was clearly a learned response, and it made Gwen feel bad for wording herself so poorly. 

“No… Courtney, I- I was just asking, I just want to get to know you better, I would never say anything like that to you,” Gwen apologized, resting a hand on Courtney’s knee as she took her bag, moving it to the side and giving Courtney more space. 

Courtney wiped her eyes and took another bite of one of her slices, folding her legs, “I’m sorry, thank you, I’m just a little touchy about things like that, my grandmother used to make comments like that all the time.” 

“Nobody should say things like that to you,” Gwen moved her hand to Courtney’s thigh, “It isn’t fair.” 

The two girls toasted by hitting their pizza slices together, laughing as they started a jovial conversation. 

Heather was on a different mattress, watching this display from her seat on her pillow with Izzy dangling from the ceiling eating pizza, “Can you please knock it off, nitwit?” she asked, rolling her eyes. 

“No way! This is soooo much fun, I can’t believe you aren’t going to give it a try,” Izzy pouted, jumping down from the ceiling and landing on the mattress. 

Heather blew a strand of her hair out of her face, turning to peer at a few other mattresses, only to see Eva snarling at Alejandro from hers, “Hey, leave him alone!” 

“He’s a ‘big strong man’, he can look after himself, Girlie,” Eva hissed, shoving Alejandro, “Stay in your lane, Bug Pajamas, you’re in my space.” 

Alejandro bit his lip, “Would, would you mind if I slept on your mattress, Heather?” he asked, tapping his fingertips together and making a pleading face with his eyes, his green irises sparkling under the ceiling lights. 

Heather made a face, curling up one of her hands in vague disinterest before softening, “Izzy!” she called, gesturing over to Eva, “You’re switching mattresses!” 

Eva’s face lit up, “Gingersnap!” she cheered, “Woohoo, finally somebody who makes some sense, come here, you can hang with me!” 

Izzy cartwheeled across the basement floor, landing on Eva’s mattress and giving Eva a hug, “My partner in crime! Hiya! Ooohh, you like mushrooms on your pizza, too?! That’s awesome!” she giggled.

The loud clinking of a glass brought everyone in the room to attention, turning to look at Geoff, who was holding a glass bottle and standing on a mattress. 

“Alright, everybody in the open space near the choir practice closet, we’re gonna play spin the bottle!” Geoff announced, “Slash truth or dare, we’ll explain the rules on the way. 9th year dudes, you’re comin’ too!” 

“Where’d you get the bottle, Geoff?” Beth asked, playing with her hair as they walked over to a forming circle near the choir practice closet. 

Geoff pointed to the doorway, where an unconscious Chris was clutching another bottle, feet in the air and an eyemask over his eyes, down for the count until morning, most likely, “If I actually like, cared about my education, I’d report him, but also this is gonna be wicked fun since he’s sloshed!” he laughed. 

Beth clapped jovially, sitting next to Heather in the now-complete circle of students. 

“Okay, so here are the rules, the narrow end of the bottle is the pointer, if it lands on you, you have three choices: kiss the person on the other end of the bottle, tell a truth, or do a dare. If you fail to do any of those, you have to spend three minutes in the practice closet with the person on the other end of the bottle,” Geoff listed on his fingers, “We clear?” 

“Yes!” the group of teens echoed. 

“Alrighty, me first!” Geoff said, spinning the bottle and crossing his fingers as it landed on Bridgette, “Woahhh, alright, Bridge! What’re you pickin’?” 

Bridgette bit her lip, blushing as she looked down at her feet, “I uhm… I pick the kiss,” she laughed, crawling over to Geoff and giving him a kiss on the lips, “Mm… strawberry lip balm?” 

Geoff blushed as well, lowering his hat, “Uhmmm… y-yeah, I like how it tastes- I don’t always eat it but like… that sounds dumb…” he explained, looking away as Bridgette kissed him again, “Woah… th-thanks.” 

“No problem, now I’ll spin it,” Bridgette stated, spinning the bottle as it landed on Heather. 

“I pick truth,” Heather scoffed, folding her arms. 

“Oookay, did you or did you not make out with Alejandro in the girls’ bathroom?” Bridgette asked, resting her hands on her knees. 

Heather bit her lip, “I’m not answering that, because I was  **not** with Alejandro in the girls’ bathroom, either ask me a real question or fuck off,” she growled. 

“Well, you know the rules, three minutes in the closet with Alejandro over there,” Bridgette said, pointing at the boy in question and ushering them into the closet. 

“You know, you could have just said no, they would have believed you,” Alejandro said, “Or… perhaps, now that I’m not bawling my eyes out, we  **could** make out if you’d like.” 

Heather twirled her hair on her finger, “I mean, you are the only guy I would ever consider doing that with, but maybe just a kiss,” she said, kissing Alejandro on the mouth once and rubbing the side of his face, “So… do you wanna like… be a thing?” 

“I would love that very much,” Alejandro yawned, “All of that crying exhausted me… my eyes still hurt, would you mind rubbing my hair for a minute…  _ girlfriend _ ?” 

Heather blushed, touching her cheek, “N-not at all, c’mere, you can lie down in my lap… nice bug onesie, it’s really soft,” she admitted, stroking Alejandro’s smooth hair. 

“Thank you, at least someone appreciates it,” Alejandro replied, “You are very sweet, this is a side of you I very much did not expect.” 

“Well, you’re pretty much the first boy I’ve ever liked,” Heather admitted, “Keep a secret, but I actually-” 

“-Like both?” Alejandro watched as Heather nodded, “Me too!” 

“Wow, you really are perfect,” Heather said, patting the side of Alejandro’s head until the sharp light from the rest of the basement came flooding in. 

“Your three minutes are up… honestly expected at least one of you to be half-nude or somethin’, this is pretty lame,” Geoff chuckled, only to get gently shoved by Bridgette, “Yeah, yeah, you’re right, Bridge.” 

Alejandro and Heather returned to their seats, and Heather spun the bottle, watching as it landed on a pale boy with freckles, obviously slightly younger than the rest of them. 

“Oh uhm… dare?” the boy requested, fiddling with the knife in his left hand. 

“Okay, your dare is to cut off some of Mr. McLean’s hair with that trusty knife of yours,” Heather laughed, “What’s your name, Half Pint?” 

“It’s Scott,” the freckled boy said, tossing his knife into the air and walking over to the doorway, grabbing Chris’ hair and slicing off about half of it practically at the roots before returning to his seat, “There we go, a done deed.” 

“W oah,” Duncan sighed, resting his head on his hand as Scott spun the bottle, the narrow end pointing at Duncan, who then looked up and realized Scott was on the other end. Blushing, Duncan blurted out, “I-i’ll take the kiss!” 

Scott crawled across the circle, and the two exchanged a brief kiss on the mouth, “You taste like wintergreen gum,” Scott muttered, narrowing his eyes, “And those tongue tattoo lollipops.” 

“You taste like dirt cake,” Duncan smiled, raising his eyebrows, “What’s your dorm room number?” he whispered. 

“B5,” Scott whispered, returning to his original seat. 

Duncan spun the bottle again, leaning back as it landed on Leshawna. 

“I’ll take the truth,” Leshawna yawned, tugging at her leopard print pajamas. 

“Alrighty… let’s see… oh I know what I wanna ask!” Duncan gathered his thoughts, “Your opinions on Captain Concussion over there?” 

Leshawna looked at Harold, who was still a bit dazed from his injury, but fully coherent in his samurai-patterned onesie, “Well… I like him, we had a really nice conversation on the way to the nurse, and we’ve got some personal plans that don’t concern any of y’all, but I like him,” she said, waving at Harold. 

The bottle continued to spin over and over, until eventually it landed on Lindsay. 

“Oooo! I pick the kiss! I pick the kiss!” Lindsay cheered, running over to Tyler- who was on the other end of the bottle- and kissing him on his cheeks and on his lips, “Yayy!” 

Tyler blushed, burying his face in his knees, “Mmmmm!” he touched the braid in his hair and kicked his legs, flustered as Lindsay returned to her spot and spun the bottle, which landed on Cody. 

“I uhm… I’ll take the dare,” Cody said, trying to put on a tough facade. 

“Ooo, I want you to punch Eva!” Lindsay cheered, clapping eagerly. 

Cody gulped, walking over to Eva and weakly punching her in the face, feeling his life flash over his shut eyelids as Eva flung him across the room, cackling as he landed on his head on the other end, flopping over after a few moments suspended on his head. 

“Okay peeps, one more good spin and then we’re gonna call it quits, cause I’ve got some choice media material for tonight!” Geoff cheered, watching Cody spin as the narrow end of the bottle stopped at Noah. 

“Uhm…” Noah looked next to him seeing Owen and not necessarily wanting anything to do with the vaguely orange-skinned girl on the other end of the bottle, “I’ll do truth.” 

“Hmm… okay,” Cody pondered, “Why do you always let Owen carry you around? I get that you’ve got issues, but chicks are gonna think you’re fruity, dude,” 

Half of the room gasped, glaring at Cody. 

Noah rolled his eyes, grabbing the bottle and throwing it at Cody’s head, “Hate to break it to you, Clown Car, but I’m as fruity as a pack of Starbursts,” he narrowed his eyes at Cody and gave a smug smile, hoisting himself up with a grip on Owen’s shoulders as he locked into a kiss with the dirty blonde. 

Cody looked away, “Shit,” he muttered, getting up and returning to his mattress, rubbing the side of his head. 

Once everyone had returned to their mattresses and the heat in the basement had been turned on, Geoff slid a disc into the DVD player on a cart near the wall, an image being projected onto a large screen in front of an empty wall. 

“This tape is something my big bro sent me before I left for school, says it fucking rocks at parties,” Geoff said, cheering as he pressed play, returning to his mattress with Bridgette and unfastening his fleece pajamas- they were a very light pink with balloons on them. 

“ _ Someone I know is safe and snug, and they’re drifting off to sleep… Round and round, a little boat, no bigger than your hand, out on the ocean, far away from land _ ,” 

“Isn’t this for like… little kids to get them to go to sleep?” Bridgette asked, rubbing her eyes as she shivered. 

Geoff draped one of his blankets over Bridgette’s shoulders, “I don’t think so, I just think the cool sexy part hasn’t kicked in yet, this is gonna be sick, trust me,” he said, yawning. 

“Well, it better, this is super lame,” Ezekiel grumbled, yawning on his mattress next to the orange girl from the circle, “You good, Missy?” 

“I’m fine… thanks,” 

“Alrighty, if you’re sure, eh,” Ezekiel replied. 

“ _ Take the little sail down… light the little light… this is the way, to the garden in the night _ ,” 

Lindsay stretched out, burrowing into her blankets and draping the thick fleece throw over Tyler, who was slowly beginning to doze off, “What time is it?” she asked. 

Tyler checked his phone, “It’s-” he paused to yawn “-midnight,” he backed up, letting Lindsay snuggle against him. 

Rhythmic humming filled the dormitory hall basement, Bridgette curling up in her blanket, “Geoff, I think this is legit a show for little kids,” she murmured. 

“Naw, my bro would never lie, this has gotta be epic,” Geoff argued, turning up the volume as he waited in anticipation, “I swear it’s gonna be epic.” 

“ _ What a wonderful day in such a beautiful garden, isn’t it? What are you up to? _ ” 

“Why are we watching that British show for little kids?” Heather scoffed, “I had to watch this when my parents took us on vacation in London.” 

Alejandro was lying down, blinking slowly as he listened, “This is so peaceful… I kind of like it, I don’t like when parties are all high-energy,” he yawned, “Here… snuggle with me.” 

Heather lied down on her side, inching up to Alejandro and throwing her blanket over the both of them, “I like this voice,” she whispered. 

“Me too,” Alejandro muttered back, fighting the closing of his eyes for a brief moment until he fell peacefully asleep. 

“Geoff?” Bridgette yawned, “This show is for little kids.” 

“I think I forgot to say my big bro smokes major grass,” Geoff yawned, “Well… G’night Bridge.” 

“Goodnight, Geoff,” Bridgette replied, giving Geoff a gentle kiss on the cheek before falling asleep cuddled against him. 

Leshawna fell asleep on her back, Harold splayed across her with his glasses still on, mumbling Japanese words in his sleep.

Noah and Owen were embracing each other with Sasha at the foot of the mattress, Noah having mumbled, “I love you,” to Owen before they both fell asleep. A half-eaten piece of pizza was clutched in Owen’s hand. 

Courtney was curled up on one end of the mattress, Gwen splayed out on the remainder of the space, the two of their hands resting on top of one another’s under the blanket. 

Izzy was curled up in the rafters of the ceiling, kicking in her sleep at random, with Eva in the lower end of the push-up position against their mattress. 

Duncan was splayed out on the floor, with Scott from the circle lying on what was once Duncan’s mattress, the two of them holding both hands- Scott falling asleep in the middle of helping Duncan back up. 

It was all so sweet, and very, very adorable, trust me, you had to be there. Sierra thought so as well, as she was the last one awake, taking plenty of silent photos for the yearbook before falling asleep on her own mattress. 

At about two in the morning, Chris woke up and looked at the maze of sleeping teenagers, “Eh… I guess I could leave… fuck I’m hungover,” he grumbled, touching his head only to realize his hair was missing and squealing in fright. 

**_SMACK!_ **

A textbook flew at Chris’ head, hitting him square in the face and sending him sprawling backwards. 

“Can it, McLame! Some of us are trying to sleep!” Eva hissed from her mattress, smiling and rolling onto her side to go back to sleep as Chris ran out of the dormitory basement whimpering like a kicked puppy.


	7. Danger and Dissertations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Court and I got into an argument about the quadratic formula and then Mrs. Zahlen told us to zip it and then some words were exchanged that may not have been the most appropriate-” 
> 
> “Duncan, you called her a ‘wrinkle-faced math banshee’ and told her to ‘chew on your boxers if she wanted to open her mouth again’!” Courtney hissed, pouting. 
> 
> “Hey, I stand by what I said, none of it was false,”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: WARNING! THE BEGINNING SEGMENT OF THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS MENTION OF INJURY AND BLOOD, BUT NOT INTENTIONAL SELF-HARM OR ANYTHING OF THE SORT! PROCEED WITH CAUTION!
> 
> Hope you guys enjoy!

**_Knock! Knock! Knock!_ **

Heather sighed, getting out of bed and opening dorm C4’s door, seeing the dean of students clutching Izzy’s shoulder, “Hello, Dr. Oswald, thank you very much for returning Izzy,” she yawned cordially, pulling Izzy inside of the dorm room. 

“Hello, Miss Maxwell, please ensure that she remains in the dormitory until morning,” Dr. Oswald instructed, shutting the dormitory’s door again and wandering down the hall, “Behave yourself, Isabelle.” 

“Izzy doesn’t have to listen to Ozzy unless she uses Izzy’s name!” Izzy laughed, running and jumping into bed. 

“Ugh, did Izzy sneak out again?” Gwen yawned, sitting up in bed. 

“Yes,” Heather grumbled, “Now everyone go to sleep, no more distractions until tomorrow morning.” 

“It is tomorrow morning, it’s 2am,” Gwen muttered, rolling back onto her side. 

“If you want to talk clocks, you can do it in the  **hallway** !” Heather snapped, lying down and putting her pillow over her head, “I need my beauty sleep!”

“That’s an understatement,” Sierra chuckled from her bunk, making the two other girls laugh. 

“Everyone shut UP!” Heather yelled, throwing one of her pillows at Gwen and rolling onto her side. 

**_KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!_ **

Heather screamed into her pillow, climbing down from her bunk and swinging open the door, “What  _ is  _ it?!” she asked, only to blink and realize that Owen was standing in the hallway, a half-asleep Noah on his hip. 

“Uhm… whoops, we were looking for C2, we need Courtney ‘cause Al had an accident,” Owen explained, tapping his fingertips together as the sounds of his two dormitory mates yelling in panic could be heard from behind him. 

“What kind of ‘accident’?” Heather asked, raising an eyebrow and pushing past Owen, only to see Alejandro pacing back and forth, his left arm wrapped in a towel that was soaked in blood, “Oh my god!” 

“Don’t freak out, it’ll make him panic and his heart will pump blood faster… he’ll bleed more,” Noah yawned, trying to keep his eyes open. 

“What happened? What’s going on?” Gwen asked, peeking out the door, “Oh my god-” 

“Shhh!” Heather hissed, “Go get Courtney from C2, hurry.” 

Gwen complied, hurrying down the hall in her slippers and nightgown, knocking on dormitory C2’s door until Bridgette answered. 

“Mm? What is it, Gwen? Oh- what happened?” Bridgette asked, turning back into the room and calling for Courtney. 

“Somebody decided that playing with  _ knives _ under his blanket in the middle of the night was a good idea,” Noah muttered, clinging to Owen’s side like an exhausted koala. 

“I was not  _ playing _ with them, I was  _ polishing _ them,” Alejandro corrected, “They are the knives my father gave me, and I take great pride in taking good care of them.” 

“And you managed to cut all the way down the center of your hand polishing them,  _ how _ ?” Noah asked, raising an eyebrow. 

“That is none of your concern, I do not see why Courtney is needed, we could just as easily get the nurse,” Alejandro whimpered, biting his lip. 

“We can’t get the nurse because he’s probably still asleep,” Noah explained. 

“He?” Bridgette asked. 

“It’s 2007, Bridgette, read a book,” Noah muttered, falling asleep resting his head against Owen’s chest, maintaining an iron grip even in his sleep. 

Brandishing a first aid kit, Courtney sat on the floor and motioned for Alejandro to join her, pulling off the towel and wincing as she tried not to notice the amount of blood gushing from the gash in Alejandro’s hand, “This is going to sting, fair warning,” she stated, pulling the top off of a bottle of disinfectant and dumping some of the contents onto the gash. 

“MIERDA!” Alejandro screamed, grinding his teeth as his hand shook, “What now?” 

Courtney grabbed some synthetic thread and a sewing needle, “You can totally trust me, I went to a medical training camp for two months, I practiced on fruit all the time,” she explained, grabbing Alejandro’s wrist and making short work of stitching the gash in his hand closed, “There, all better.” 

Alejandro wiped away a stray tear, “Muchas gracias, Courtney,” he sighed, wobbling to his feet and leaning against the wall, blinking as Heather held up his injured hand and gave it a kiss. 

“There,  _ now _ it’s all better,” Heather whispered, kissing Alejandro’s cheek, “Alright everybody, back to bed, it’s too early for this shit.” 

The following morning, the teens were sat at their usual lunch tables, the day’s breakfast being eggs, toast, and bacon. 

Noah slid his eggs and bacon over to Owen, slathering his slice of toast in butter and taking a slow bite, “Mmm… this is one of my few guilty pleasures,” he sighed to himself before swallowing. 

“Interesting- Ow!” Alejandro whined, yanking his injured hand from its resting place on the table, “The area where Courtney put in my stitches is warm… it almost feels like it’s pulsating.” 

“Your body is just healing itself and staving off any bacteria from entering the wound and giving you sepsis, you’re fine,” Noah stated, shoving the last morsel of his toast into his mouth. 

“If you say so,” Alejandro sighed, finishing his breakfast and feeling a tap on his shoulder, turning around to see Heather smiling at him, “ _ Bonjour, petite _ .” 

“ _ Bonjour à toi aussi, mon grand prince fort _ ,” Heather greeted, stroking the underside of Alejandro’s chin and kissing his stitches, “Poor thing.” 

Alejandro’s eyes sparkled, “Wow… who taught you how to say that? Courtney?” he asked. 

“Maybe… you don’t think someone with a D+ in French could have pieced that sentence together, do you?” Heather asked, gently tugging at Alejandro’s ponytail and finger-combing the rest of his hair. 

“Never imagined you’d be so liberal with your French grade… I had no idea you had a D+, good to know,” Noah laughed, tossing back three pills and swallowing them with a gulp of water. 

“Was I  _ talking  _ to you, Nerdlet?” Heather hissed, sitting down next to Alejandro and buttoning his polo shirt, “Did you study for the test next period?” 

“The what now?” Alejandro asked, blushing. 

Noah wheezed, falling out of his seat and howling with laughter, “This is rich!” he cackled, kicking his legs. 

“I’m not making a fool of myself during another test,” Alejandro grumbled, grabbing a fork from Owen’s side of the table and biting his lip before jamming it into his stitches and moving it back and forth like a seam ripper, “A u ghhh, MIERDA!” 

Owen gulped down the last of his breakfast, his hands shaking, “Oh my god, I think I’m gonna be sick,” he muttered, his freckled cheeks turning a greenish shade as he looked away. 

“Why would you  **do** that?!” Heather snapped, slapping Alejandro across the back of his head, “Why would you rip your stitches open with a dirty fork?! Or at all for that matter?!” 

“It is simply… strategic… my love,” Alejandro breathed through his teeth, “Please take me to the nurse.” 

Blood began to squirt from the laceration in Alejandro’s hand like a jet stream, getting all over the lunch table and Heather’s face. 

“E u ghhh,” Heather gagged, helping Alejandro to his feet and walking him out of the dining hall going to the nurse’s office. 

**_BRRRING!_ **

In the Advanced Math classroom, Noah and Izzy took their seats, giving the teacher a bored gaze as he passed out the tests. 

“Where are Mr. Burromuerto and Miss Maxwell?” 

“Alejandro is in the nurse’s office, he lacerated his left hand,” Noah explained, guiding Sasha underneath his desk and writing his name on his paper, “Heather is helping him.” 

“Very well then, you may begin, pupils, I’m going to the lavatory, I expect nothing but academic honestly and decorum from all of you,” the teacher instructed, grabbing a newspaper and running out of the classroom, his loafers clicking against the linoleum. 

“Hmm… number one is so easy, right?” Izzy whispered, “The answer is undefined, simple.” 

“I actually think he made an error with this one, see how he included a contextless subscript inside of the equation and added a sigma where the equation doesn’t call for one? What’d he do, throw this together at midnight?” Noah whispered back, scrawling on Izzy’s test in red pen. 

“Uhm, excuse me? But I’m pretty sure the teacher said not to conversate with each other-” a spry young man in a teal sweater said from the backseat, finger-combing his hair. 

“Isn’t that what you’re doing right now?” Noah asked, smiling as he turned around, pointing at a different problem on the test, “Look! There the sigma is again, woah… do you think he copy-pasted these problems?” 

“Indubitably,” Izzy laughed, “Alright, there we go, done!” 

Noah leaned over and pointed at the last problem on the page, “You used the incorrect formula on this one, the line’s supposed to go over here,” he whispered. 

“Ohhh, thank you!” Izzy replied, grabbing both of their papers and resting them on the teacher’s desk before returning to her seat, “You wanna go to the library?” 

“You read my mind. Sasha, heel,” Noah commanded, whistling as Sasha stood at his side, following him as he and Izzy left the classroom, whistling innocently as they passed a faculty restroom, hearing the Advanced Math teacher whimpering alongside the flicking of pages. 

**_THUMP!_ **

“Hey, watch it- Oh, it’s you guys,” Heather sighed, gripping Alejandro’s shoulder. 

“How was the nurse?” Izzy asked, snickering. 

“Nurse Macintosh was not happy with the fact that I allowed Courtney to do my stitches, or that I then tore those stitches, but now my hand is feeling much better,” Alejandro stated, “How was the test?” 

“Horrible, it was full of errors and Izzy and I finished in ten minutes, we’re going to the library,” Noah laughed, looking down to see Sasha nuzzling his pocket, “Okay, okay, I’m getting my inhaler. Thank you, Sasha.” 

“May we join you in the library?” Alejandro asked, gently clasping hands with Heather, receiving a nod from Noah and Izzy. 

**_BANG!_ **

“THAT IS IT! OUT OF MY CLASSROOM, BOTH OF YOU!” 

The four Advanced Math students watched out of curiosity as Mrs. Zahlen’s door swung open, Courtney and Duncan being shoved out into the hallway. 

“Oh look, it’s Captain Cut-My-Hand and his wench,” Duncan scoffed, rearranging his hair and peeling himself off of the floor. 

“I did not do it intentionally, I was polishing them and it was dark,” Alejandro complained, folding his arms, “What just happened?” 

“Court and I got into an argument about the quadratic formula and then Mrs. Zahlen told us to zip it and then some words were exchanged that may not have been the most appropriate-” 

“Duncan, you called her a ‘wrinkle-faced math banshee’ and told her to ‘chew on your boxers if she wanted to open her mouth again’!” Courtney hissed, pouting. 

“Hey, I stand by what I said, none of it was false,” 

“That is truly an awful thing to say,” Alejandro added. 

“So what? Nothing she can do about it,” Duncan argued, feeling a tap on his shoulder, “I spoke too soon.” 

“Good Morning, Dr. Oswald,” Courtney and the Advanced Math students parroted, smiling at the dean as she grabbed Duncan by his wrist, thrusting a sheet of paper into his hands. 

“Oh come on!” Duncan complained, “Not another one of these stupid essays!” 

“You get into mischief, you have to write a stupid essay, we learn from our mistakes, Mr. Wilson,” the dean stated, walking down the hall again. 

By next period, in the gymnasium, the students were separated into their respective teams. 

“Alright kids! Today, I once again, have lost my gym lesson plan,  **but** , instead of a free day, today is the day of the Canada Fitness Test!” Chris cheered, clapping, “Whoever’s team does the best overall wins a special reward! The losing team will have to run laps tomorrow!” 

The Screaming Gophers glared at Beth and Owen. 

“I do believe we are at a bit of an intrinsic disadvantage,” Alejandro piped up until Noah smacked him in the back of the head, “Nevermind.” 

“Our first test is the pull-up test, or the flexed arm hang test for essentially all of the ladies,” Chris announced, gesturing to the pull-up bar fastened to the wall on the left side of the gymnasium, “Killer Owls, you’re up first!” 

Walking up to the bar, Bridgette jumped up, grabbing the bar and holding herself up, flushing as she kicked her legs, counting down the seconds, “Twenty-one, twenty-two, twenty-three, twenty-four… I can’t do it!” she grumbled, lowering herself to the floor and walking over to the side. 

Courtney got up to the bar and was able to hold herself up for thirty-five seconds before getting blisters on her hands and giving up. 

Duncan rubbed his hands together, jumping up to the bar and taking deep breaths as he pulled himself up, “One… two… three… four… come on, you’ve got this, pretend you’re on the yard, man… nine… ten…” he muttered, breathing through his nose as he felt his biceps burning. 

After a few moments, Duncan jumped down, “Thirty, there, I’m finished,” he yawned, rubbing his biceps as he walked over to the water fountain, “Your turn, Deej!” 

DJ was able to complete fifty pull-ups before he had to give up to go to the bathroom, Ezekiel was only able to complete ten. 

Then came Eva, who managed an impressive seventy pull-ups before jumping down from the bar and exhaling as though she’d only done a simple jog, leaving Duncan practically slack-jawed as she passed him. 

Geoff was able to complete forty pull-ups, Harold was able to complete twelve, and Katie was able to complete three. 

Sadie attempted to do a traditional pull-up, but refused to risk smudging her nail polish, and Sierra completed twenty pull-ups. 

Tyler completed sixty-two pull-ups, having hit his chin on the bar in the middle of his sixty-third. 

“Alright, Gophers! You’re up!” Chris called, “Thanks to a… strongly worded phone call from Noah’s father, he is exempt from this activity, because I value my wallet and my life… what does ‘Kure da tukara’ mean?” 

“Dad said ‘whatever I didn’t translate already will not be translated’, so I can’t help you, sorry,” Noah laughed, sitting on the bleachers.

Chris groaned, rolling his eyes. 

“I unfortunately cannot complete this test, Nurse Macintosh said I cannot overexert my left hand until he removes my stitches,” Alejandro stated. 

“You do them one-handed or you write me a twenty-thousand word essay on the history of pull-ups,” Chris demanded. 

Alejandro sighed, hopping up to the bar and hoisting himself up with his right arm, completing thirty pull-ups and wandering over to the bleachers, soaked with sweat. 

Ultimately, the Killer Owls completed a higher total of pull-ups and seconds in the flexed arm hang, moving forward to the speed sit-up test, which the Screaming Gophers then promptly won. 

**_BRRRING!_ **

“We don’t have time for the 300 yard run test or the flexibility test, so tomorrow all of you will run the 300 yards!” Chris cheered, “See you in five minutes! We’re doing a new unit on food vocab!” 

Owen squealed, grabbing Noah from the bleachers and running at top speed to the French classroom, “WOOHOO!”

Noah whistled from his position in Owen’s arms, “Come on, Sasha!” he called out, gripping Owen’s shoulders, “Calm down, Lunchbox, you don’t have to run.” 

Alejandro leaned downward, scooping Heather up with his right arm and tossing her onto his shoulders, “Come along, Dark Angel,” he said, walking out of the gymnasium. 

“Race you!” Izzy laughed, swinging from the ceiling rafters and vaulting herself out of the gymnasium door into the hallway, Eva following after her, gym bag clinking around at her side. 

In the French classroom, Chris sat on his desk, going through a powerpoint, “Okay, so we’ve gone through the fruits and vegetables, does anyone have any questions?” he asked. 

Alejandro raised his hand, “Why is a potato called a  _ pomme _ , and the apple also called a  _ pomme _ , it’s confusing,” he complained. 

“Potatoes are the apple of the Earth, it’s really simple,” Chris scoffed. 

“Then why is pineapple not called apple of the pine?!” Alejandro asked. 

“Because it isn’t! Take it up with the  _ Académie Française _ ,” Chris grumbled, “Any  **other** questions from someone with a better grade in my class?” 

Owen raised his hand eagerly, “ _ Quand est le déjeuner? _ he asked, his stomach rumbling and shaking his desk. 

“Not a question about the vocabulary lesson, Owen,” Chris corrected, watching the obese blonde’s hand shoot up again, “F ine, what is it now?” 

“ _ Quand apprenez-vous les différents types de fromages? _ ,” Owen asked, biting his lip as he doodled wedges of cheese in his notebook. 

“ _ Je ne sais pas, Owen _ ,” Chris groaned, snapping his fingers, “ _ Heather, avez-vous une question de vocabulaire? _ ”

Heather blinked, “Uhmm… yes? Maybe?” 

“He’s asking you if you have a question,” Courtney whispered. 

“Uhm…  _ Porquoi nous apprenons cette merde? _ ” Heather asked, tapping her fingertips together. 

“Aaand, that’s a thousand word dissertation in French about learning the basics for swearing in my class,” Chris said, slapping a sheet of paper on Heather’s desk, “And yes, it will count towards your grade.” 

“UGH!” Heather grumbled, “ _ C’EST CONNERIE! _ ” 

“That is another thousand word dissertation!” Chris laughed, “I can do this all day.” 

“GOOD!” Heather spat back, balling her fists, “ _ Je déteste cette classe, je déteste toi aussi, avec votre hideux visage! _ ” 

Chris pressed his hands to his face, “I… that’s it, that’s a ten thousand word dissertation, you can start writing in the hallway while you think about how you can insult me perfectly but are barely passing my class,” he demanded, pointing to the door as Heather grabbed her things and stormed out, “Does anyone else have any other questions?” 

Alejandro raised his hand, flipping through a translation booklet hurriedly and scrawling out a sentence with his other hand. 

“Yes?” Chris asked. 

“ _ Honte à toi d'avoir déshonoré ma princesse _ ,” Alejandro scoffed, standing up and leaving the classroom with his things. 

“That was kind of good… the pronunciation was botched, but that was an impressively quick way to piece a sentence together,” Noah whispered, kissing Owen on the cheek. 

“M m mmm…  _ mon amour _ ,” Owen murmured, purring under his breath as his freckles glowed atop his blushing cheeks. 

Gwen rolled her eyes, filling out notes in her book and looking at the clock, “Ughhh, this is so painfully boring,” she muttered, looking at the drawings in the margins of her notebook and then looking up at the back of Courtney’s head, and then back down at her notebook, “Whoops.” 

Blushing, Gwen tore out her portrait-filled notes and crumpled them up, stowing them away in her backpack as she drummed her fingertips against her desk. 

Courtney turned around, looking at Gwen, “What happened to your notes?” she asked, getting no response and handing her notebook over, the notes written meticulously and perfectly in neat dark purple ink, “Here, you can borrow mine.” 

“Gee, thanks, Courtney,” Gwen replied, quickly copying down the notes, “How much longer have we got until class is over, by the way?” 

“Not long,” Courtney whispered. 

**_BRRRING!_ **

At dinner that evening, the students were divided into their respective English class teams, they liked to mix things up every once in a while. Dinner for that evening was fried chicken and french fries, with double chocolate cookies available for dessert. 

Standing in the lunch line, Noah felt Sasha tugging at his shirt and growling, “Good girl, good girl… what is this stuff fried in?” Noah asked. 

“Peanut oil, you got a problem, Scrawny?” Chef asked, making an unamused face. 

“Give my portion to the big guy, I’m lethally allergic to peanuts,” Noah grumbled, feeling his stomach growling and clenching his eyes shut, “Do you have  _ anything _ that hasn’t touched the peanut oil?” 

Chef rummaged around, looking through the menu, “Uhmm… no, and don’t touch them cookies, neither. Go behind the water fountain and get some ice cream, I’m sorry,” he explained, serving Noah’s portion of food to Owen and whistling nervously. 

Upon arriving at the Screaming Gophers’ table, Noah saw that Alejandro and Heather were both working on their dissertations, nothing on their tables but a glass of water each and a box of fruit juice. 

“You guys allergic to peanuts, too?” Owen asked, feeling the table shift when he sat down. 

“No way, I’m just not willing to stuff myself with nutritionally devoid garbage soaked in saturated fat,” Alejandro and Heather said in unison before staring at each other, eyes sparkling like gemstones, “Where have you been all my life?” 

“Good to know that the two of you are just suffering out of principle,” Noah grumbled, taking a bite of his ice cream sandwich and wincing, shoving it aside and giving it to Owen as he felt a violent ache ring through his mouth, “Nevermind, I’d rather starve.” 

“Well,  _ some _ people seem to be enjoying today’s selection,” Alejandro scoffed, tilting his head further down the table, where Lindsay and Beth were tossing french fries into each other’s mouths. 

“O oo, that looks like fun!” Izzy laughed from the ceiling, her dark green sweater blurring as she swung back and forth, “Someone toss me a fry!” 

Heather grabbed Cody’s plate of fries and chucked them at the ceiling, watching Izzy catch half of them in her mouth as the rest rained down onto the table, a few of them being quickly caught by Sasha. 

“Very impressive, Isabelle, now could you please come down from there?” Alejandro asked.

“Izzy comes down when someone tells  _ Izzy _ to come down,” Izzy laughed. 

“Izzy, get down,” Eva called from the Killer Owls’ table, watching as Izzy leaped down from the ceiling and landed neatly in her seat. 

“I believe I will be contacting my father regarding the nutritional deficit present in our current meal structure,” Alejandro snickered, pulling out his phone, “He certainly won’t be happy.” 

“Oooo, I could call mine,” Heather said, resting her head on the back of her left hand as she pulled her phone out of her bag. The duo exchanged a knowing look and then turned to face Noah. 

“I like the way you guys think,” Noah said, tossing his phone in the air and catching it, “This is a beautiful friendship, we’re such privileged little shits.” 

“Indeed we are,” Alejandro noted, finishing off his apple juice, pausing to glance at the now teary-eyed Owen. 

“We’re not gonna eat salad and junk every day, are we?” Owen asked, wiping his eyes. 

“No, Lunchbox, this isn’t so you guys can never have the stuff you like, it’s just so that there are options for people like me and superficial people like the Dissertation Duo over there, so we don’t starve to death,” Noah explained, resting a hand on Owen’s thigh, “You are literally the greatest person I have ever met in my life- and I’ve met Stephen Hawking. I would  _ never _ ,  **_ever_ ** , do anything to take away something that makes you happy.” 

Owen sniffled, gathering Noah into a bone-crushing hug, “I love you so much, Bookcase!” he sobbed, putting Noah down and gently fixing his bangs, “Okay, you guys do your thing, I’m gonna go see if Chef’ll give me thirds.” 

Heather dialed a number on her phone and leaned back, “Hi Daddy! I know you’re busy at work but I had something I wanted to tell you… Mhm… yeah,” 

Alejandro spun his box of apple juice on his finger while he held his phone up to his ear, “Hola, Papa! Si, I got your letter… yes… yes I understand. We can discuss that later, I have something I need to talk to you about now…” 

Noah checked the time and pet Sasha with one hand while he held his phone with the other, “Good Evening, Baba… yes, how was work? That’s wonderful… I’m looking forward to seeing the pictures. ਪਿਤਾ ਜੀ, ਮੈਂ ਇੱਥੇ ਭੁੱਖੇ ਮਰਨ ਜਾ ਰਿਹਾ ਹਾਂ, yeah…” 

Duncan peered over at the Screaming Gophers’ table while gnawing on his chicken, “Wonder what the Mathletes are up to,” he pondered, wiping the grease off of his mouth. 

“I dunno, I’m just ready for bed,” Geoff yawned, leaning back as Bridgette massaged his scalp, “W o ahhh.” 

“I walked over there a second ago, they’re on the phone with their parents, how low-brow,” Courtney scoffed, folding her arms. 

“Didn’t you call your mom so that she could demand that you be allowed on the mostly all-male tennis team?” Tyler asked, letting Lindsay braid his hair. 

“That- that was different!” Courtney argued. 

“It really isn’t, but I honestly don’t blame you, or anybody, our parents are paying a lot for us to go here, and if making the experience worth the money means using a little bit of power, then so be it,” Sierra piped up from further down the table, reading a book. 

“I dunno, that seems really elitist, kids in public schools don’t get that privilege,” Bridgette said, “Though, I guess they do, with petitions and stuff, but it definitely isn’t as quick or easy as it is for us… that doesn’t seem fair.” 

“Easy does it, Karl Marx,” Duncan laughed, “The revolution will come, but by the time it has reached its peak, we’ll have joined it, having made our own success and burning the empires our parents demand we inherit.” 

Bridgette’s eyes glistened, “W oah…” she gasped. 

“ _ You _ imbibe the teachings of socialism?” Courtney asked, pressing her hands to her freckled cheeks. 

“Who doesn’t these days?” Duncan laughed, “Just because I’m ready for the establishment to come crumbling down doesn’t mean I can’t reap the benefits while the foundation starts to crack.” 

“You truly have a way with metaphors that makes them seem effortless, what’s your grade in English?” Courtney asked. 

“A 96%, why?” Duncan asked, yawning. 

“Colour me impressed, Punk Rock,” Courtney chuckled, patting Duncan’s shoulders, “Colour me impressed.” 

“Alright pupils! Grab your dessert and head to the dormitory building! Goodnight!” a supervising teacher with blonde highlights said, clapping as the students filed out. 

In dormitory B1, Duncan pulled on his pajama shirt and yanked on his shorts, “G’night boys,” he yawned, climbing into his bunk and tugging the blankets up to his shoulders.

“Goodnight!” Cody cheered, rolling onto his side. 

“Night Night,” DJ yawned. 

Ezekiel was already asleep, kicking one of his pillows as he murmured to himself. 

Late into the night, Duncan was woken up by eager rapping on the dormitory window, and he swung it open, only to see Izzy peeking in. 

“Good Evening, Duncan!” she whispered, “Do you want to have some fun with me?” 

Duncan shrugged, “Count me in, Orange Brigade,” he yawned, jumping out of bed and following Izzy out the window. 


	8. The Punk and the Pyromaniac

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Out on the grass, the cluster of teens stared at the main school building, seeing flames peeking out of a second-story window, the glass on the window burst open. 
> 
> “Oh my god, what happened?” Bridgette asked, staring at the burning classroom and wincing slightly as fire trucks pulled up in front of the school building. 
> 
> Duncan and Izzy ran out to the grass with charred hair and faces, a fresh burn on Duncan’s neck. 
> 
> “You didn’t,” Courtney sighed, “Please tell me you didn’t.”

“Good Morning, Esteemed Pupils!” Chris greeted, walking into the dining hall with a smile on his face. 

Cody glanced up from his bowl of oatmeal, rolling his eyes, “What’s so good about it? You’re here now,” he muttered, shoveling in another brown-sugar filled spoonful. 

“Stop talking with your mouth full, Cody, it’s unbecoming,” Courtney corrected, smacking the underside of Cody’s back with a ruler. 

“Ow!” Cody whined, “You’re unbecoming!” 

“You aren’t going to be at some important tech company luncheon and discussing trade deals with a mouth full of  **oats** , swallow or shut up, Anderson!” Courtney snipped, swatting Cody with the ruler again. 

“OW!” Cody whimpered. 

“Anyways, I have some exciting news! Mrs. Zahlen and Mr. Över are out today on business, which means we have the day to ourselves!” Chris cheered.

Alejandro leaned back in his seat, “Uhm, excuse me, Mr. McLean? I don’t have either of those instructors, I’m in Advanced Math,” he stated. 

“Same,” Noah yawned, stretching out his back, Heather nodding in agreement with a smug smile on her face. 

“Can it, Nerd Brigade, I am well aware that you are taking Advanced Math, whoop-de-doo, congratulations,” Chris rolled his eyes, clapping sarcastically, “Anyways, your teacher’s got the stomach flu, so he has relinquished all teaching duties to  _ me _ .” 

“A fool’s errand, really,” Heather whispered, laughing with Noah as Chris silently counted heads. 

“That explains him blowing up the faculty toilet during that train wreck of a test,” Noah laughed, finger-combing his hair, “Poor soul.” 

“Spare me the intricate details, friend,” Alejandro groaned, resting his chin in his hand. The group all looked up when Chris gave a shrill whistle, looking vaguely annoyed. 

“Yo, Mathletes! Where’s Isabelle?” Chris asked, resting a hand on his hip as he waited for an answer. 

“She said she had to go to the bathroom…  _ Ay carajo _ , Noah and Izzy were the only ones who sat for the math test, what if-” Alejandro exclaimed, clutching his bowl of oatmeal with an iron grip. 

“I’m going to stop you there, I sleep in dorm C4, Izzy’s on her period,” Heather breathed. 

“Gross,” Cody muttered from the other side of the table, squealing when Heather’s bowl of oatmeal was launched at his face. 

“Okay, moving on, we will be doing a wonderful tour of the beautiful woodlands on the outskirts of the property!” Chris said, clapping as the unenthused audience of exhausted teenagers stared at him, “Okay, not as excited as I thought we’d be, but pressing onward!” 

“Uhm… where’s Duncan?” DJ asked, looking around. 

“Dude said he had to take a dump, he’ll be back,” Geoff yawned. 

**_CLICK!_ **

A loud, wailing siren echoed through the dining hall, alongside the ringing of a bell. 

“Fire alarm! Let’s go outside, people!” Chris commanded, pointing to the dining hall’s exit doors as the teens flooded out of the emergency exit into the damp grass. 

“There’s a fire, Little Buddy, we’ve gotta go,” Owen clamored, shaking Noah in his seat, “Noah?” 

Noah was curled up in a tight ball, screaming as Sasha pawed at his back, barking. 

Owen scooped Noah up into his arms and grabbed their things, giving a sharp whistle, “Heel, Sasha!” he beckoned, hurrying out of the emergency exit with the blonde pitbull following behind him, still barking.

Out on the grass, the cluster of teens stared at the main school building, seeing flames peeking out of a second-story window, the glass on the window burst open. 

“Oh my god, what happened?” Bridgette asked, staring at the burning classroom and wincing slightly as fire trucks pulled up in front of the school building. 

Duncan and Izzy ran out to the grass with charred hair and faces, a fresh burn on Duncan’s neck. 

“You  _ didn’t _ ,” Courtney sighed, “Please tell me you didn’t.” 

Duncan coughed up a cloud of ash and tossed a pack of matches to the ground, “Oh we did, it was awesome, wasn’t it, Izzy?” he asked, giving the ginger a high-five and dusting off his clothes. 

“Noah, we’re out, there’s no fire, you can stop crying now,” Owen said, rubbing his boyfriend’s back as Noah was slack in his arms, still screaming and crying, “Noah?” 

Noah let out a wailing sob, pushing himself away from Owen and landing on his front in the grass, screaming as he pressed his palms against his ears, Sasha hurrying to him and lying on top of him, licking his face. 

“Jeez, he’s acting like you guys were in the classroom while it was on fire, you’re 16, Dude, don’t be a baby,” Duncan scoffed, chuckling to himself until Owen punched him in the face, knocking loose one of his teeth, “Point taken, please continue.” 

Noah sat up, still crying as he tried to wipe his eyes, Sasha still licking his face, “I’m sorry,” he sniffled, feeling his scleras burn raw and pink from crying, “I’m okay, I’m okay.” 

Sasha barked, sitting and letting Owen look at the rainbow infinity symbol patch on her vest. 

“Ohhh! It’s okay, Little Buddy!” Owen cheered, clapping as he dug through his pockets, pulling out his phone and showing the case, revealing that it had a sticker with the same symbol on it. 

Noah blushed, looking into Owen’s blue eyes and feeling safe, climbing into Owen’s arms again and cradling himself against Owen’s chest, “My ears,” he muttered, gripping Owen’s sweater vest. 

“I know, I know, it’s okay… oh! Here!” Owen stated, handing Noah a Rubix Cube he had in his pocket, watching his boyfriend slowly work away at it, still in tears, but calm. 

“Thank you,” Noah breathed, kissing Owen’s cheek and relaxing as he continued to unfurl the Rubix Cube.

“Okay, well, the building’s probably gonna be fine, let’s start our tour! Follow me down the dirt path!” Chris cheered, pumping his fists in the air as he wandered off into a dense brush of trees, his cluster of teens following behind him, unamused. 

Two and a half hours into their walk, Chris stopped in front of a massive log bridge suspended over a deep rushing river, “I forget what the river’s name is, but if you ever wanna ride down here or get into some trouble, this is the river for you,” he laughed. 

“I feel like you’re just giving us ideas to do despicable things to one another,” Courtney said, folding her arms. 

“Indeed I am, and I do not care,” Chris said, grinning as he heard the walkie-talkie on his hip click, “Oh, fuck.” 

“Christopher, please return the children to the premises now and conduct your normal class, the fire has been put out and you did not receive proper authorization to take them,” Dr. Oswald said monotonously on the other end of the device. 

Chris pouted, “F ine, you never let me do anything fun! I used to  **be** somebody, y’know!” he complained, marching back to the patch of grass near the school building, where Dr. Oswald was patiently waiting with a firefighter next to her, “We’re back, y’happy?” 

“Insurmountably,” Dr. Oswald sighed, turning to the fireman, “Come on, we still need to go find the superintendent to assess the damages.” 

Duncan and Izzy exchanged a high-five, feeling invincible as they followed the rest of the group back inside of the building, checking the clocks and realizing it had been five hours since they left the dining hall, meaning that it was time to return there for lunch. 

The teens sat in a scattered order compared to their usual neat arrangements, some of them going over homework and others wondering what happened to the blaze in that classroom. 

Owen sat down, still holding Noah in his arms, “You gonna eat, buddy?” he asked, eating his two hot dogs in three consecutive bites. 

Noah shook his head, having completed the Rubix Cube twenty times since Owen had given it to him, “My ears still hurt,” he grumbled, breathing in the scent of Owen’s sweater vest, “Lavender.” 

“Mom says it smells sweet and it traps the scent of… you know,” Owen yammered, blushing as he heard Noah’s stomach growl, “You should eat.” 

“I’m okay,” Noah insisted, blinking when Owen gently pulled the Rubix Cube out of his hands and exchanged it with a bowl of salad- which he stole from Heather.

“Cool… I guess I’ll just get a  _ new _ salad, whatever,” Heather scoffed, getting up and walking to the lunch counter again, tugging at her skirt. 

“Humor me, Babe,” Owen said, kissing Noah’s cheek, the two blushing as they ate. 

“Euch,” Cody grumbled, eating his hot dog. 

“Oh zip it, they’re cute,” Gwen said, looking down at her sketchbook and trying to doodle Noah and Owen while they were gazing into each other’s eyes, “You’re just mad.” 

“About what? Them? No way, they’re not my type,” Cody scoffed, feeling someone swat his back, “OW! Courtney stop it!” 

“Waaah, Courtney stop it! That’s how you sound!” Courtney mimicked, going back to her food. 

Chris wandered back into the dining hall, clapping, “Listen up, everyone!” he called, grinning, “For the remainder of the school day, you will be following me into the library for study hall!” 

“You definitely do not have us after lunch,” Tyler argued, eating his hot dog and pouting. 

“I do today, kiddies!” Chris laughed, “Lunch is over in five minutes!” 

Tyler groaned, slumping his shoulders as he devoured his hot dog, getting up to dump his tray only to trip on his shoelaces and land on the floor face-first, “Owwww,” he whined, Lindsay helping him to his feet. 

“It’s okay, Tyler, here, I’ve got it!” Lindsay stated, dumping his tray for him while he tied his shoes, “There we go- awww, damn, I got ketchup on my sweater!” she peeled her Hello Kitty sweater off, standing around in her red undershirt, “I hope this washes out.” 

“Me too,” Tyler said, “I can wash it for you.” 

“Oh yay! Thank you, Tyler!” Lindsay cheered, gripping Tyler’s waist and tossing him into the air, “You’re not that heavy for such a buff guy.” 

Tyler blushed, biting his lip, “Th-thanks,”

“Okay, if this cuddle fest is over, can we please go up to the library?” Duncan asked, twirling a knife in his hand with a smile on his face, “I’ve got plans to draw up- I mean, uhhh, History homework to do!” 

“Eva wants in on the next one,” Izzy whispered, dangling down from the ceiling, her scrunchie in her mouth, “She’s excited.” 

“If you don’t hush, there won’t be a next one,” Duncan hissed, resting his hands on his knees.

Izzy pouted, folding her arms, “Duncan is no fun,” she giggled, poking Duncan on the nose and jumping back into the ceiling’s rafters, kicking loose pieces of plaster- one of them landing on Sadie’s head. 

“Alright kids, five minutes is up, let’s vamoose to the library,” Chris said, cracking his knuckles as he approached the dining hall’s exit. 

“ **_A-hem_ ** ,” 

Chris turned, jumping upon seeing Dr. Oswald standing behind him, “You’ve gotta stop doing that, man,” he laughed nervously, looking around, “Look, I got clearance for this, leave me alone.” 

“I’m not here for you,” Dr. Oswald sighed, scanning the room and cracking her knuckles, “Mr. Wilson, Miss O’Connor, follow me,” she commanded, walking out of the room, Duncan and Izzy sheepishly following her. 

Sierra got up, taking off her shoes and jogging after them, giggling to herself. 

“Where’s she going?” Geoff asked, scratching the back of his head, “Why’d she take her shoes off? Euch! Better question, why are her feet  _ rank _ ?!” 

“To answer those in the appropriate succession: To be nosy, so they can’t hear her coming, and she only washes her feet every two weeks,” Harold listed, counting on his fingers as he polished off his hot dog. 

“Bogus,” Geoff said, standing up and stretching as the group of teens went upstairs to the library. 

On the first floor, near the main office, Sierra was prowling around, sitting outside of the nurse’s office and pretending she was waiting to be seen so she could eavesdrop. If there was one thing Sierra loved about her parents not being around, it was that she got to be as sneaky as she wanted. 

A student in a fluffy pink dress who was seated next to Sierra turned with a soft smile, “Hello! What are you waiting for the nurse for?” she asked, her voice a soft whisper as she twirled her hair. 

“I’m not, I’m listening, now shh!” Sierra whispered, leaning over and cupping her ear with her hand. 

“I hope the two of you understand that this is very serious, and if anyone was injured, police would have to be involved,” Dr. Oswald said crisply, flicking through sheets of paper. 

“So, what, am I expelled now?” Duncan asked. 

“Not at all, the two of you will serve detention for two hours after school for the remainder of the week, and you will have to write a properly formatted essay on fire safety. Eight thousand word minimum,” Dr. Oswald explained. 

“That was fun!” Izzy laughed, clapping. 

“Isabelle, I expect a lot more from you,” Dr. Oswald scoffed. 

“You expect nothing of Izzy, though!” Izzy cheered. 

“Alright, I’ve had enough, to the library with the both of you, I expect that there won’t be any misconduct within the next few days, are we clear?” Dr. Oswald asked. 

“Crystal,” Duncan muttered. 

“Cataract clear!” Izzy giggled, leaping out of the main office and running up the steps to the library, “WOOHOO!” 

Duncan walked out of the main office slowly, narrowing his eyes at Sierra before softening into a smile at the girl in the pink dress, “Hi, Ella,” he greeted, “See you at band practice.” 

“Hopefully! Bye-bye!” 

Sierra rolled her eyes as Nurse Macintosh- a dark skinned man with lighter brown hair and hazel eyes- opened his office door. 

“Uhm… it’s empty in here, you can come in,” he greeted, waving and glaring in confusion when Sierra took off, scrambling up the steps, “Huh… well that was weird.” 

In the library, Duncan plopped down next to Geoff and Cody, picking up a sheet of blue construction paper and scrawling down some random notes. 

“So, what happened?” Cody whispered, skimming through a comic book, “How much trouble did’ja get in?” 

“Detention for the rest of the week and a stupid paper on fire safety that I’ll pay one of the nerds to write for me, no biggie,” Duncan yawned, “I’ve got bigger plans… but I guess I can put them on hold until I’m off the hook.” 

“How much bigger?” Geoff whispered, leaning over as Duncan gave him a glimpse, “O o oo, D u d e.” 

“Crazy, right?” Duncan chuckled, “I’m impressed with myself!” 

“If you simpering nitwits don’t mind,  _ some _ of us are trying to read!” Courtney whispered, a thick law book in front of her at the table.

“You mean  _ you _ are trying to read,” Duncan laughed, “Like I’m gonna halt this fun train for you, Toots.” 

“No, seriously, shut the hell up, this is a library,” Noah whispered from the table behind Duncan, sitting in Owen’s lap and reading a book on quantum physics- being in a low lit place with relative quiet and the rich smell of old books made him feel loads better. 

Alejandro was sitting with Lindsay, going over a fashion magazine, and he looked up to flip Duncan the bird before going back to it, “So, how do you pronounce it again?” he asked. 

“ _ Givenchy _ ,  _ zhee-vont-she _ ,” Lindsay whispered slowly, pointing at a few pictures, “In a sentence,  _ Ces jupes Givenchy ne sont-elles pas à tomber par terre? _ ” 

Alejandro’s eyes widened, “W ow… uhm…  _ Givenchy _ … how was that?” he whispered. 

“Like, totally perfect! Good job!” Lindsay whispered, clapping silently to cheer for him, “Okay, now another one… Ooo, here’s  _ L’Oreal _ ”

“Is it not just pronounced Loreall?” Alejandro whispered. 

“Nonono,  _ L’Oreal _ … like  _ des aureilles _ , for example, try it,  _ L’O-re-al _ ,” Lindsay instructed. 

“ _ L’O-re-al… L’Oreal! _ ,” Alejandro whispered, grinning like an idiot, “I did it!” 

“SHHHH!” Courtney and Noah hissed, exchanging a knowing smile. 

That evening, at dinner, Courtney sat down with her bowl of egg noodles and sliced lobster, squirting in a quarter of a bottle of hot sauce before going to town with her chopsticks, “Mmm, this is amazing,” she hummed, looking over to see Duncan toying around with a click lighter, “Duncan!” 

“Don’t talk with your mouth full, Princess, it’s unbecoming,” Duncan chuckled, squealing when a jet stream of hot sauce hit his face, “AUGH! WHY IS IT ALWAYS YOU WITH THE HOT SAUCE?!” 

Courtney huffed, going back to eating. 

Duncan dumped his drink onto his face and sighing in relief as it cleared out his eyes, only to see Bridgette feeding Geoff lobster slices, “Gross,” he muttered. 

Bridgette blushed, “Says the guy with iced tea on his face,” she teased, taking a few gulps of broth from her bowl before tossing Geoff another piece of lobster, “You’re so cute when you catch them, Babe.” 

“I try,” Geoff laughed, catching another piece in his mouth and chewing, “You’re a good throw.” 

At the table on the other side of the room, Alejandro was eating his food while he spoke with Lindsay. 

“How do you say lobster in French?” Alejandro asked. 

“Euhh…  _ homard _ , I think!” Lindsay said, finishing up her bowl, “Mmm, this tastes so good!” 

Heather glared at Lindsay, daintily finishing her bowl and drinking her iced tea, “This is ridiculous, I should be teaching him random words in French,” she complained. 

“I don’t think I’d greenlight tutoring between an F student and a D student,” Noah laughed, his stomach growling harshly as he rubbed his eyes, “Ughh, I’m starving,” he grumbled, clutching his stomach. 

“What, you allergic to lobster?” Heather asked, raising an eyebrow. 

“ **Yes** ,” Noah replied, holding his wrist to his mouth and gnawing on one of his medical alert bracelets until Owen slapped his arm away, “Thank you for that.” 

“No problem, Bookcase,” Owen said, smiling as he finished eating, giving a loud belch and collapsing onto the dining hall floor, “W o w.” 

Noah clapped, “9 out of 10,” he laughed, wincing as his stomach continued to rumble. 

Izzy dangled down from the ceiling, snapping her scrunchie at Noah, “Three hundred bucks for you to write my paper on fire safety for me,” she said, batting her eyes. 

“Three-fifty,” Noah argued. 

Izzy handed Noah a small bundle of cash and vaulted herself back into the ceiling, “There we go!” she cheered. 

Trent glanced up at the ceiling, plucking at his guitar and blinking in disbelief when Izzy dropped a few bills down to him, “Thanks? Izzy where’d you get this money?” he asked. 

“Normally it would be Izzy’s money, but today it’s  _ Ozzy _ ’s money, shhhh, don’t tell anyone!” Izzy giggled, swinging back and forth from the rafters. 

Gwen blinked, “Oh no, no, you can’t, tell me you didn’t take the dean’s money, Izzy,” she stated. 

“Okay,  _ Isabelle _ took the dean’s money,” Izzy laughed. 

Gwen rolled her eyes, “I expect no less from you,” she said, leaning against the table. 

That night, Gwen woke up in her bunk to see Izzy sitting at the foot of her bed, pawing at her feet, “Augh! What? What is it?” she yawned. 

“Shhhh, c’mon, I’m gonna show you something,” Izzy whispered, kicking the bed to wake up Sierra, “Follow Izzy!” 

Sierra and Gwen stared blearily as Izzy silently opened the dormitory’s door, beckoning for them to follow before bolting down the hallway, leaving Heather in bed by herself. 

Wandering out of the dormitory building and into the main school building, Izzy wandered down an empty, dark hallway, stopping upon reaching a dead end with a framed portrait of the dean on the wall. 

“You wanted to show us a stupid painting, Izzy?” Gwen yawned, “I’m not wearing any shoes, it’s freezing.” 

“SHHHH!” Izzy whispered, whistling as Eva popped out of the shadows and pried the painting off of the wall, revealing a hole that spread out in cobweb-covered cracks, “Follow!” 

Gwen’s eye twitched as Izzy crawled into the hole, vanishing out of earshot, with Sierra sleepily following suit, “I’m not going in there… what if there’s mold or something?” she asked. 

“Trust me, you’ll like what you find,” Eva whispered, shimmying into the hole- fitting into tight spaces is a bit harder when you’re bulkier and wearing a sweatsuit. 

Gwen crossed her fingers, biting her lip and jumping in, “Today has been fucking nuts, can’t get any crazier than this,” she whispered, hearing nothing as she traversed the hole’s path other than the eerie silence of the night. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a bit of background character confirmation for the record books! 
> 
> Vice Principal AKA the Dean: Dr. Dolores Oswald   
> School Nurse: Victor Macintosh  
> Regular Math Teacher: Mrs. Zahlen  
> History Teacher: Mr.Över
> 
> Headcanon last names that have been said so far:   
> Courtney- Rodriguez  
> Heather- Maxwell  
> Izzy (Isabelle)- O'Connor  
> Duncan- Wilson  
> Geoff- Risley  
> Owen- Horton-Joyce
> 
> (Maybe about ten or twelve chapters in I'll make an index page)


	9. Face Your Fears

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Do you lovely kids remember earlier this week when I asked you what your greatest fears were as an extra credit test question?” Chris asked, rocking back and forth on his heels, watching as the gaggle of teens nodded, “That was a trap! So today we are going to have a face your fears challenge! Winning team gets a special surprise!” 
> 
> There was a silence that fell over the room, all of the teens nervously standing around as they waited. Tyler raised his hand, confused, “I don’t think I filled it out,” he admitted as the room became quiet again. 
> 
> (TW FOR MENTION OF BUGS FOR A BRIEF MOMENT!)

“Woohoo! Big rugby game today!” Tyler cheered, hurrying out of bed to put on his clothes, “I’m stoked!” 

“You have been chattering about this game for days now, I’m glad you finally get to play,” Alejandro yawned, brushing his hair and counting the strokes.

“I’m glad too, Bro!” Tyler said, clapping as he yanked his hair into a ponytail, feeling it swish at his hips and hit his rear end, “I think it grew.” 

“It likely did,” Alejandro said, looking up at Noah’s bunk, “Where is the energy, Noah? It’s Friday.” 

“I haven’t eaten in six days,” Noah groaned, clutching his stomach as he jumped down from his bunk, whistling for Sasha, “My apologies if this isn’t a good enough cheerleader impression for you.” 

“Six days? It cannot possibly have been that long,” Alejandro scoffed, hearing the loud pangs of Noah’s stomach and stepping back, “I stand corrected… you look like death.” 

“Ha-ha-ha,” Noah muttered, climbing onto Owen’s back after peeling on his red sweatshirt and his pants, “Morning, Lunchbox… I’m excited to go be disappointed at breakfast again.” 

Owen chuckled nervously, grabbing their things and leaving dormitory B3 to go to the dining hall. 

Swaying on his feet, Noah eyed the sausage and hashbrowns that were on display, glancing up at Chef with vapid eyes, “Peanut oil?” he asked, watching Chef nod as Sasha growled, “Perfect.”

“W-wait,” Chef bit his lip, handing Noah a large bowl of fruit, “Here, I promise it’s clean, just eat  _ somethin _ , you’re killin’ me, Scrawny.” 

Noah smiled, drooling as he grabbed a glass of water and ran over to his usual lunch table, plopping down and shoveling fruit into his mouth, shaking as the juice ran down his face. 

Sasha sat obediently under the table, growling and tugging at Noah’s pant leg. 

“No, Good girl, but no,” Noah said, his mouth stuffed with fruit as he continued to eat, a smile wide across his face as Heather and Alejandro sat down, Owen following after them. 

After four minutes, the bowl was empty and Noah chugged his water, leaning back and sighing with relief, “I’ll be back,” he breathed, going up to the counter and returning with a second bowl of fruit of the same size, mowing through its contents in half the time as the first.

Owen’s eyes sparkled as he watched, “W o w,” he patted Noah’s back, “That was  _ amazing _ .” 

Noah snapped to attention, no longer in a fugue survivalist hunger state, and politely wiped the fruit juice and drool from around his mouth, “None of you saw that.” 

“Uhm… Noah?” Gwen asked from the other side of the table, “Are you okay?” 

“I have never felt better in my entire life,” Noah said, still smiling as Sasha continued to tug on his pant leg, “Okay, okay, Sasha, good girl,” he paused to scratch at his neck, “My throat itches.” 

“Shouldn’t you be panicking or something?” Heather asked, raising an eyebrow. 

“If I was going into anaphylactic shock, I wouldn’t have time to panic, I’m fine,” Noah replied, finishing his second glass of water as he scratched his neck. 

Sasha walked out from under the table, sitting and presenting a pouch on the back of her vest, chuffing silently as Noah grabbed a bottle of pills out of the pouch, swallowing two and putting the bottle back, handing Sasha a treat, “Very good job,” he said, nuzzling Sasha’s nose. 

Gwen yawned, rolling her eyes, “I went into this safe with Izzy and there was nothing in it, just dusty records, dusty artsy stuff, and dusty old golf carts-” she paused, Izzy launching down from the ceiling and pressing her hands over Gwen’s mouth. 

“Shhhh!” Izzy hissed, “Don’t say anything!” 

“It’s a little late for that, Izzy,” Noah chuckled, “Golf carts?” 

Izzy nodded eagerly, “Eva and I have ridden them! They’re so much fun!” she cheered, clapping before swinging back up to the ceiling, hanging from the rafters. 

**_BRRRRING!_ **

“Woohoo! We get to skip first period for rugby practice, let’s get a move on, Dudes!” Geoff laughed, cheering as a group of boys hurried out of the dining hall to the field house behind the school compound. 

Duncan scoffed, “Jocks,” he gently finger-combed his hair and hurried upstairs to math class. 

By 3rd period, the teens found Chris pacing back and forth in the gymnasium, holding a whiteboard with a big shit-eating grin on his face. 

“Why are you so happy?” Bridgette asked, chewing on a piece of her hair as she dusted off her pants. 

“Do you lovely kids remember earlier this week when I asked you what your greatest fears were as an extra credit test question?” Chris asked, rocking back and forth on his heels, watching as the gaggle of teens nodded, “That was a trap! So today we are going to have a face your fears challenge! Winning team gets a special surprise!” 

There was a silence that fell over the room, all of the teens nervously standing around as they waited. Tyler raised his hand, confused, “I don’t think I filled it out,” he admitted as the room became quiet again. 

“Okay, no enthusiasm again, but we’re gonna start with the Gophers! Alejandro!” Chris cheered, grabbing a permanent marker and putting an “X” on Alejandro’s left cheek, strapping a mirror to his face, “Ruined symmetry, there ya go. You have to keep the mirror on until the challenge is over and your team gets a point.” 

Alejandro squealed, running around the gymnasium waving his arms, “No, this cannot be happening! N o!” he screamed, tugging at his hair. 

Chris laughed, cracking his knuckles as he went down his clipboard, “Beth, your turn!” he said, clapping as he grabbed a bag of cicadas from a trunk near the wall, holding one out, “You have to eat this, and then your team gets a point.” 

Beth gagged, wincing as she placed the cicada in her mouth, feeling it crawl on her tongue and down her throat, “Eugh! Ow! Ow! Okay, done!” she whined, flapping her hands and sticking out her tongue, “Can I go to the nurse?” 

“Nope. No bleeding, no nurse,” Chris laughed, “Alright, Lindsay, put this on.” 

Lindsay was tossed a mullet wig and slid it onto her head, shaking, “Ewwww,” she complained, biting her lip as she tried not to notice, “This is g r oss! I hate it!” 

“Keep it on for twenty minutes and you win,” Chris chuckled, cracking his knuckles as he turned to Noah, a shit-eating grin on his face, “This is gonna be  _ fun _ .” 

Noah gulped, watching the gymnasium door burst open as a female clown juggled bright colourful balls and laughed, “No… please, no,” he begged, feeling his heart race, “Please.” 

“N ope, this is for a grade, bucko,” Chris chuckled, “You participate in the challenge or you get an F, your choice.” 

“There’s the birthday boy!” the clown giggled, running up to Noah only to be snarled at and barked at by Sasha, “Oh no! What an angry puppy!” 

“Noah, this has gotta be a level playing field, you’ve gotta face this by yourself,” Chris reprimanded, holding out his hand and taking Sasha’s leash, “You give her a hug or get her to bug off and you win. When you’re finished, you can have this back.” 

Noah blinked, “Wait, what? Hey, give me back her leash!” he argued, reaching out only for Chris to hold it out of his reach. 

“Participate in the challenge, and you can have her back, she stays with me until you finish,” Chris replied, smiling smugly. 

Owen frowned, glaring at Chris, “He  _ needs _ Sasha, this is like taking away somebody’s wheelchair, not cool, man,” he grumbled, cracking his knuckles. 

“Look, I need a good laugh and he gets to sit out for gym literally every day, he’ll survive without the pitbull for a little bit, relax,” Chris scoffed, smiling nonchalantly as he attached Sasha’s leash to his belt. 

Noah’s eye twitched and he fought back tears, the clown opening her arms and approaching him, “NO!” he yelled, running at top speed out of the gymnasium as the clown followed him, “NOOO!” 

Owen rushed to the gymnasium door, panicked until Chris grabbed the back of his sweater vest. 

“Your turn, big guy,” Chris laughed, “Remember? Flying?” 

Owen gulped, shaking as Chris clapped his hands, “Everyone to the courtyard!” he called out, meeting the teens outside as he pointed to a harness attached to a rope that was tied to a massive tree in the courtyard, “Strap in, Owen.” 

Owen fastened himself into the harness and felt his vision blur as he was yanked into the air and whipped around at top speed in a circle, “Nononono, pl e ase, make it s t op!” he begged, feeling sick and horrified as he shut his eyes to try to ignore the fact that he was whizzing through the air. 

Chris cackled, slapping his knees as he pressed a button, unlocking the harness and sending Owen flying through the air and plummeting to the ground with a loud thud, leaving a dent in the earth around him, “Another point for the Gophers!” he announced, “How you feel, Buddy? Still mad?” 

Owen opened his mouth and closed it again, “I uhm… I uhhh… I don’t… where am I?” he muttered, biting his lip as he wobbled on his feet, “I feel like my brain just got knocked around inside my head.” 

“That’s about normal for someone with a brain the size of a walnut, MOVING ON!” Chris said, “While we’re out here, Geoff and Bridgette, go out into the woodland areas around the school grounds in opposite directions. Stay there for at least an hour and you each win.” 

Geoff gulped, looking up at the sky and seeing the rolling clouds, “Oh no, come on, man, n o,” he muttered, hurrying off and trying not to think about the incoming storm- too busy fretting to realize what this would mean for the rugby game. 

Chris chuckled, “That’s not all, Gwendolyn, follow me, please,” he coaxed, taking Gwen over to a hole that was dug in the ground with a metal box inside, “Climb in, you’ve got thirty minutes and I’ll send one of the losers to dig you out.” 

Gwen shuddered, “You can’t do this,” she said, climbing in and silently crying, “This is fine… it’s fine,” she whispered, taking short, shallow breaths as she felt the box get covered with dirt. 

“Alrighty, now we go back inside,” Chris instructed, heading back to the gymnasium.

Upon arriving back inside the gym, Courtney raised her hand, “Gym class ends in five minutes,” she said, pointing at her watch. 

“Not today it doesn’t,” Chris laughed, clapping, “B uut, since you’re so eager to have a go, I’ll be sure to make you do your challenge first when we go downstairs.” 

Courtney bit her lip, going through the copy of the school handbook she found in her backpack, praying for a loophole. 

“Trent, you’re gonna have to handle the same fate as Noah, buddy,” Chris said, faking an apologetic face as a mime followed Trent around the gymnasium, chasing him out into the hall as Trent screeched for him to get away, “Man, stuff like this makes me love my job.” 

Heather sighed, watching as Alejandro rammed face-first into a wall, falling to the floor unconscious and the mirror getting knocked off of his face, “So, whatcha got for me?” she asked. 

“Ehhh, I couldn’t find a sumo wrestler in time, so I guess you’re off the hook… go sit on the bleachers,” Chris stated, looking around, “Where’s Harold?” 

“He went to the restroom,” Cody piped up. 

“Perfect!” Chris cheered, clapping his hands as he went down the list, “Leshawna’s not here because she’s in the main office filling out some forms… yaddah yaddah, hmm, let’s see here- Oh, Duncan!” 

Duncan gulped, eyeing the cardboard cutout on the far end of the room, “Oh come onnn, no, how’d you even get this?” he asked. 

“Just give it a hug, c’mon, Celine doesn’t bite… although that’s debatable with those teeth, y ikes,” Chris giggled, watching as Duncan slowly approached the cutout like a lion stalking its prey. 

“H-hi… you’re not a real person, you’re not a real person, you’re just cardboard… you’re just a pretty looking box,” Duncan whispered to himself, hugging the standee and breathing a loud sigh of relief before roundhouse kicking the cutout in half, “Take  **that** !” 

Tyler cheered, clapping, “Way to go, Man!” 

Courtney rolled her eyes, “That was so unnecessary,” 

“You try to hug something that’s staring into your soul, Freckles,” Duncan grumbled, folding his arms. 

“Gwen is in a metal box underground by  **herself** right now, and she didn’t put on as much of a show as you did just now, get a grip,” Courtney chuckled, finger-combing her hair. 

On the contrary, back outside in the now-pouring rain and darkness, Gwen was kicking and screaming inside of her box, repeatedly yelling “Let me out, let me out, please, let me out”, but that’s just between you, me, and the keyboard. 

After getting Katie to kiss a frog, Chris ordered for the rest of the students to follow him into the dining hall kitchen, heading near the meat freezer entrance in the back. 

Izzy and Justin exchanged a look and looked at the frosted door that led to the industrial meat freezer, and stared at Chris with vapid eyes, “You… you can’t legally lock us in there!” Justin argued, pressing a hand to his chest, “I am worth  **millions** , you cannot do this to me!” 

Chris rolled his eyes, “You’ll be worth even more if there are any incidents, you will be fine, both of you get in,” he opened the door and shoved Justin in, Izzy swinging in after him. 

The freezer door slammed shut and Chris dusted off his hands, a smile on his face, “Moving onward,” he said, checking his watch.

“Uhm… you can’t just leave them in there, they’ll freeze to death!” Courtney argued, “Also you need to let Gwen out now!” 

Still buried in the courtyard, Gwen was shuddering with panic, eyes darting around at the box’s dark metal corners and listening to the downpour that was above her. “You know… if I just keep calm and try to listen to the ambiance, it’s not too bad,” she whispered to herself, shutting her eyes calmly and enjoying the moment. That is, until watery mud leaked into the box, slowly beginning to fill up the enclosed space.

Chris examined his nails, “Gwen has enough oxygen for an hour and a half, she’ll be fine,” he said, rolling his eyes, “Cody, if you go to the far back, there is a bomb made of old unused fireworks, if you do not diffuse it within the next ten minutes it will explode… might wanna hurry, dude.” 

Cody jumped, speeding into the very back, mumbling out of panic. 

Eva sighed, silently slipping away from the group of teens and heading upstairs, smiling when Chris didn’t notice her leave. 

Whistling as she walked down the hallway, she watched Trent speed past her, screaming and in tears as he tried to escape the mime, running into a wall in the corridor and falling to the floor. 

The mime skidded to a halt upon seeing this and pulled off her beret, “Oh my goodness, are you okay?” she asked, helping Trent up. 

Trent laughed, “HA! You talked, I w in!” he cheered, blinking slowly as he felt his head, “Also, no, I’m not okay.” 

“Ohhh gosh… I didn’t think that this was the gig I was getting paid for, I’m just an entertainer, I don’t wanna hurt anybody,” the mime sighed, wiping her makeup off and hearing the crack of thunder through one of the windows. 

Trent shuddered, rubbing his eyes, “Thank you,” he muttered, looking at Eva, “Oh hey! Did Chris finish your challenge yet?” 

“I snuck out,” Eva scoffed, “My greatest fear is having to wear girly clothes in front of people and I will not be humiliated.”

Trent shrugged, “Good for you,” he said, weakly clapping, “I uhm… I lost track of Noah, I’m surprised, he’s been running this whole time.” 

“Come on Birthday Boy! It’s just a hug! Heehee!” the clown begged, now simply speedwalking behind Noah, who was at the end of his rope. 

Noah was drenched in sweat and completely broken down in tears as he leaned against a railing that overlooked the first floor, staring at the clown in pure terror and struggling to breathe. 

“There’s no need to be afraid, I’m very nice! Just give me a big hug!” the clown cheered, getting even closer and opening her arms, jumping back when Noah gave a high-pitched squeal and collapsed, slamming to the floor and flopping onto his side like a ragdoll, “Uh ohhh…” 

“Is  _ he _ okay?! What is going on here?” the mime asked, “Do I need to call an ambulance or something?! I have a theater degree, this wasn’t supposed to happen!” 

Eva and Trent turned to look at the steps, seeing Nurse Macintosh talking to himself and holding a cup of tea, “Hi Nurse Macintosh!” they greeted nervously, watching the nurse turn to face them upon reaching the top of the steps. 

“Hello Eva, Trent… aren’t you guys supposed to be in class?” he asked, taking a sip of his tea and looking at the clown and the mime, “Did I miss an assembly or a show or something?”

“We’ve been in gym for… what time is it, Trent?” Eva asked. 

“Two and a half hours? Three, maybe,” Trent sighed, stretching his neck out and rubbing his eyes.

Nurse Macintosh looked at Trent, and then down at Noah who was essentially motionless on the ground, “Where are they now?” he asked, setting his tea down and gathering Noah in his arms, “Ohhh, McLean is gonna  **get it** .” 

In the dining hall kitchen, Courtney shook as she stared at the kiddie pool of green gelatin, “I don’t… I can’t do it,” she pleaded, standing behind Duncan, “I can’t do it.” 

Chris clapped, looking at his clipboard, “Okay, that’s an F for the day then, Courtney,” he chuckled, tallying up the points, “Did Harold ever come out of the bathroom?” 

“I’m right here,” Harold yawned, wringing toilet water out of his hair, “I did it.” 

“Excellent job!” Chris cheered, “Okey dokey… we’re just waiting on-” 

“Christopher, what the hell is going on here?” 

Chris narrowed his eyes and hid his clipboard, “I’m doin’ my job, Vic, shouldn’t you be giving out bandaids or somethin’?” he asked, raising an eyebrow. 

Nurse Macintosh frowned, “Your class is supposed to last 55 minutes, McLean, it’s been two hours,” he said, folding his arms as Trent and Eva hid behind him. 

“Ohhh you little  **brats** ,” Chris huffed, feeling Sasha rip away from her leash and run to Eva’s feet, whining and staring up at the still-unconscious Noah who was in her arms. 

“Why are half of your students missing?” 

Chris tapped his fingertips together, making a pitiful face as he smiled, “I was just trying to have some fun, Vic… let’s make a deal, you don’t tell the dean, and I’ve got a few crisp twenty-dollar bills with your name on ‘em,” he proposed, realizing that this was not going to end well. 

“You didn’t answer my question,” 

Chris sighed, “Courtney, let them out,” he ordered, watching Courtney open the freezer door, Justin and Izzy walking out shaky and covered in frost, “There’s two… we’re missing three more.” 

“Four more!” Lindsay corrected, looking around, “I can’t find Tyler! He went outside and he was supposed to come in a while ago.” 

Chris gulped, panicking, “Courtney, go dig up Gwen. Heather, go out and try to find Bridgette, Geoff, and Tyler, the challenge is over, people, the Gophers win,” he rambled, stuffing his hands in his pockets. 

“Oh no you don’t, you are not giving the responsibility to these kids, you are coming with me,” Nurse Macintosh grumbled, grabbing Chris by the back of his neck and dragging him outside, Courtney following behind them. 

Out in the courtyard, Chris whined as he dug out the muddy hole where Gwen’s box was buried, kicking the lock open and stepping back as Gwen crawled out onto the grass, soaked with muddy water. 

“The water was literally  _ this _ close to going over my face,” Gwen hissed, panting, “Why can’t we just play dodgeball again? This sucks.” 

Courtney grabbed Gwen by her shoulders, gazing into the pale girl’s eyes, “Are you okay?” she asked, giving Gwen a hug, “I’m so glad you’re safe.” 

Gwen blushed, “Thanks,” she laughed, brushing her hair behind her ears. 

The rain was still pouring, and as a loud crack of thunder echoed through the air, Geoff and Tyler sped back to the school building, both screaming and Bridgette half-asleep on Geoff’s back. 

Chris rolled his eyes, going through his roster and feeling his pockets emptying from all of the possible lawsuits, “I left DJ with the snake!” he screamed. 

“You WHAT?!” Nurse Macintosh yelled, running after him to the dining hall kitchen where DJ was clinging to a wall, a large python hissing at him from the floor, “Oh I have had it with this, did you even get permission from the biology teacher to use her snake?” 

“Nope, no I did not,” Chris said, proud of himself as he folded his arms, watching DJ dart across the room to hide from the snake, “You get an F, by the way.” 

Nurse Macintosh took a sharp inhale, grabbed a folding chair from the side of the room, checked to make sure there were no cameras on the wall, and hit Chris in the back with it, knocking the shorter man over and tossing the chair aside in frustration before taking a sigh of relief, “Much better,” he said to himself, “Anyone else care for a hit before I take half of you to my office and call the dean?” 

Owen nodded eagerly, running up to Chris and punching him in the face with a sickening cracking sound, seething with rage as the skin around Chris’ left eye began to swell up and bruise, “Okay, I’m all done!” he said cheerfully, practically skipping back into the cluster of teens. 

Chris blinked, wobbling on his feet dazed, but still very much alert, and turning to face his coworker, “I have to go wait in Oswald’s office, don’t I?” he asked. 

“Yes, yes you do,” 

Chris sighed, tugging at his eyelids, “I fucking hate you,” he grumbled, heading upstairs. 

Twenty minutes later and inside the nurse’s office, Owen sat impatiently in his seat next to Alejandro- who was holding an ice pack to the side of his head after ramming into the wall- and bounced his left leg. 

“Breathe,  _ mi hermano _ ,” Alejandro whispered. 

“I will sock you into the next millennium,” Owen muttered. 

“Point taken,” Alejandro replied, wincing as he moved the ice pack, “Oww.” 

“It’s okay, you don’t have a concussion at least,” Heather whispered, kissing Alejandro’s cheek and rubbing his shoulders, “I feel so bad that I didn’t have to do a challenge.” 

“You should, th-that was fun, but also r-really really sucky,” Izzy said through chattering teeth, hanging upside down from a bar on the ceiling. 

Sasha walked into the waiting area from another room, barking and wagging her tail as Noah tiredly followed behind her, walking a few steps before collapsing into Owen’s arms. 

“Little Buddy!” Owen cheered, practically in tears as he kissed Noah’s cheeks, “You’re okay!” 

“Not necessarily okay, his lungs and heart are both in mild distress, but he’s okay to leave, go enjoy dinner, guys!” Nurse Macintosh said, waving as the happy couple left, Owen carrying Noah out with Sasha following behind. 

Alejandro grinned, scooping Heather into his arms and tossing her over his shoulder before leaving.

“Tyler, come on, let’s go!” Lindsay cheered, bracing herself and carrying Tyler to the dining hall. 

There was cheese pizza for dinner, something that Noah much appreciated as he devoured a large slice, giving his spare slice to Owen. 

“How does your heart feel?” Owen asked, raising an eyebrow with sauce running down his mouth. 

“I’m not sure… weird? I’m more aware of its existence than I usually am,” Noah said, politely wiping his mouth and taking a sip of his soda, “This is amazing pizza, I missed this.” 

“I missed you so much,” Owen giggled, kissing Noah, “I love you.” 

Noah blushed, giggling as he turned, “I love you too,”

Loud slurping noises made Noah and Owen turn, looking at Tyler, who was wrapped in a blanket and still damp, drinking a cup of hot chocolate- our beautiful lad’s a wee bit childish and doesn’t like tea, we stan- while Lindsay dried off his hair. 

“I can’t hold the cup properly,” Tyler whined, gripping the cup with both hands as he shivered. 

“Yoink!” Izzy laughed, grabbing Tyler’s ponytail holder and returning to the ceiling, crawling around in the rafters, “You’ll never catch me!” 

“Izzy get down from there!” Eva begged, opening her arms, only to watch as Izzy’s sky blue capris fell into her hands, “Izzy!” 

“Oh, relax, I still have my skirt on!” Izzy laughed, turning when she heard a supervising teacher clapping her hands, “Whoops.” 

“Alright pupils, grab your dessert and head to the dormitory building!” the teacher said, rocking back and forth on her heels. 

That night, in Dormitory C4, Gwen was brushing her hair when she heard a knock at the door, getting up to answer it in her nightgown and slippers, exhausted from the day she’d had. 

Courtney was standing in the doorway, a soft smile on her face as she clapped her hands, “Do you wanna go see something fun?” she asked. 

Gwen sighed, rolling her eyes, “Why am  _ I _ always the one people ask this question?” she asked, feeling a tap on her shoulder as Sierra stood behind her, “Augh!” 

“Pipe  **down** , I’m trying to sleep!” Heather whined. 

“C’mon, it’ll be fun, we promise,” Sierra chuckled, leading Gwen out and shutting the dormitory’s door, wandering down the hallway until they reached the space separating the boys’ and girls’ dormitories, where Harold and Noah were waiting. 

“Is this some kind of conspiracy? Do you guys sneak out every night to do this stuff?” Gwen asked, rubbing her eyes as she glanced at Sasha, giving the dog a brief wave and moving with the group. 

“We don’t, but Eva wants us to go see something and she’s tired, so she isn’t coming with us,” Harold explained, “Leshawna is already there, this is gonna be fun.” 

Gwen rolled her eyes, following the group into the main school building and hovering around the dean’s office, hiding against a wall in the cool darkness of the massive building. 

**_THUMP!_ **

“Hey! Watch where you’re- Oh… what are you kids doing down here?” 

The group fell silent, all staring at one another like deer in headlights when a flashlight shone on them, only to relax upon seeing who was holding it. 

“Hi, Nurse Macintosh, we’re eavesdropping,” Sierra whispered, winking. 

Nurse Macintosh shrugged, wearing a pair of striped pajamas and holding a cup of tea, he simply said, “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do, have fun listening,” and walked into the dean’s office. 

The conversation began, and the teens listened in stunned silence. 

“Oh, so Mr. Responsible gets to come to this meeting in his PJs, but I’ve had to wait here for hours,” Chris complained. 

“Unlike you, I did my job as intended today,” 

“Yeah yeah, blah blah blah, if you’re so much better than me, why don’t  _ you _ teach?” Chris asked. 

“I didn’t go to medical school to become a teacher,” 

“You didn’t go to medical school to become a real doctor either, from what it looks like-” Chris teased. 

“I am a licensed medical doctor, you prick,” 

“Are you just gonna sit here and let this happen?” Chris asked. 

“I am here to commend Victor on his excellent work putting a stop to your tomfoolery, and to make an announcement regarding two other members of our staff and the plan going forward in regards to all of you,” Dr. Oswald explained. 

“Ohhh, is this the integration plan you told me about?” 

“How come  _ he _ gets to know everything?!” Chris whined. 

“What do you think they’re talking about?” Sierra whispered, “What integration plan?” 

“I have no idea, but I know that I wanna go back to bed,” Harold yawned, stretching out and hitting a button against the wall near the dean’s door, activating a buzz alarm used for when the room is locked, “Oh shit.” 

The teens scrambled back to the dormitory building as fast as they could muster- with Sierra holding Noah by the waistband of his pajama pants to save time- and managed to vanish from sight right when the dean and Chris opened the door to peek out into the hall. 

“That was a rush,” Sierra panted, leaning against a wall and lowering Noah to his feet, “I’ve never felt so alive.” 

“And I’ve never felt so underwhelmed,” Noah laughed, whistling for Sasha as he returned to the boys’ dormitory section, “They’ll probably tell us about whatever that was tomorrow.” 

Harold looked around, following Noah and waving to the girls, “Goodnight!” he called out. 

Courtney fiddled with her hands, giving Gwen a short hug and moving a piece of the pale girl’s hair out of her face, “G’night, Gwen… see you at breakfast,” she whispered, giggling as she ran to dormitory C2. 

Gwen pressed both hands to her face in shock, blushing deeply as Sierra rolled her eyes, dragging Gwen back to their dorm by the back of her nightgown. 

  
  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Howdy! I had a lot of fun writing this chapter, it's a bit more dramatic but the show isn't called Total Drama for nothing. The rest of the chapters will be as tame as the previous ones, but I try to keep things spicy every once in a while for some fun and some tension. 
> 
> Also, if anyone's annoyed with Oswald and Macintosh, I get it, but also if Chris ran the school there would be chaos. Nurse Macintosh will be at least present in a lot of chapters because he's a nice adult that all of the kids get along with, and he and Dr. Oswald are sort of the straight men to Chris' bullshit. Someone has to keep this clown contained, this is a *school*, people. 
> 
> There's a special surprise in store next chapter (no dramatic cliffhangery things, this is just a boarding school story, but I hope the surprise be fun!) 
> 
> Hope you guys enjoyed and thank you to the lovely peeps leaving comments or sending feedback on other platforms, I read and enjoy all of it and it is much appreciated!


	10. The Great Integration

“Good Morning, Dudes! Happy Saturday!” Geoff cheered, jumping down out of bed and rushing to put on his sweater. 

“What’s so good about it?” Justin yawned, peeling his face mask off and sliding his feet into his Prada slippers. 

“Everything! We’ve got the whole day to ourselves, Dudes!” Geoff laughed, searching for his belt, “Where’s Harold?” 

“He likes to wait outside of Dormitory C8 for Leshawna like a pathetic freckled dog,” Justin grumbled, stretching and going to find his clothes. 

“Just because you aren’t feeling the best from yesterday doesn’t mean you can be an asshole to Harold, Justin,” Trent said, climbing down from his bunk above Justin and looking for his shoes, “Anybody seen my sneakers?” 

“I think they’re in the closet, Dude,” Geoff replied, hearing his stomach growl, “Wonder what’s for breakfast.” 

“Who cares? There’s nothing to do anyways, we aren’t allowed to leave,” Justin grumbled, folding his arms. 

**_Knock! Knock! Knock!_ **

Geoff opened the dormitory’s door, tugging on his hat, “What’s up du- Oh… nevermind, you need something little lady?” he asked, raising an eyebrow to the 14-year old with red hair who was standing in the hallway, “This is the boys’ 10th year dormitory sector.” 

“Oh- Oh my gosh I’m sorry! I need help finding the uhm… nevermind! That was worse than last time. Go back to what you were doing!” the girl muttered, running away. 

Geoff scratched his head, shrugging as he and his dorm mates headed to the dining hall for breakfast. 

In the dining hall, breakfast was waffles, assorted fruit, oatmeal, and bacon, with Chef sitting at his usual station, looking bored and listless as the teens poured in. 

Owen, who was half-asleep with Noah almost completely in his arms, perked up at the smell of food, tapping Noah on the cheek to wake him up. Now might be a good time to mention that the two teens were still in their pajamas.

“Morning, Sleeping Beauty,” Duncan laughed as Chef placed a large buttermilk waffle on his tray alongside a bowl of oatmeal, “You two just going to wear that all day?” 

“It’s not like we,” Noah yawned, stretching in Owen’s embrace, “have class today, sorry I don’t look sexy enough for you after nearly being given a heart attack running from a deranged clown.” 

“You look cute enough for me,” Owen giggled, kissing Noah’s neck, “You wanna get down?” 

“Sure thing, I know you’re going to need both hands to hold your breakfast,” Noah crooned, kissing Owen’s cheek and sliding out of his arms, grounding himself and whistling, “Heel, Sasha.” 

Approaching the counter, Owen grinned at Chef, “As many waffles as you can give me, pretty please!” 

Chef rolled his eyes, piling ten waffles onto Owen’s plate and averting his eyes as Owen thanked him, grabbing a bowl of oatmeal and a tall glass of milk, heading over to the lunch table. 

Alejandro scoffed, eating his bowl of fruit, “That is entirely too many waffles, Owen,” he commented, watching Owen drown his waffles in at least a litre of maple syrup, “I think I’m going to be sick.” 

“Let him eat,” Noah commented, getting ready to eat a spoonful of his fruit when Sasha yanked on his arm, chuffing, “Can I eat  _ something _ ?” 

Sasha chuffed again and tugged on Noah’s arm, essentially saying “No,” and sitting obediently.

Noah nodded, gently rubbing Sasha’s fur and coming up with a plan, “Inhaler, Sasha,” he commanded, hurrying and getting a few mouthfuls of fruit in while Sasha was distracted with turning around to present Noah with his rescue inhaler- which was inside a pocket on her vest- “Good girl, very good girl.” 

“If you’re allergic to the fruit, maybe just have fruit that you aren’t allergic to?” Alejandro proposed, watching Noah put his inhaler back inside of the pocket. 

“Well, unfortunately it isn’t that simple, and I don’t exactly have fat reserves to rely on if I go another six days without eating,” Noah grumbled, clearing his throat and scratching his neck as Sasha pawed at his side, “I know, Sasha, good girl.” 

Owen looked up from his waffles, face coated with maple syrup and melted butter as he turned to look at Noah, “Bookcase? Is your throat itchy?” he asked. 

Noah nodded, wiping fruit juice off of his mouth and scratching at his neck as he grabbed his allergy medicine from Sasha’s vest, swallowing two pills with water, “There we go,” he sighed to himself, patting Sasha on the head. 

Tyler slowly ate his bowl of oatmeal, turning around for a moment to wave at Lindsay and returning to find that his breakfast was gone, “Izzy!” he yelled up to the ceiling, “Give it back!” 

Izzy dangled from the ceiling, holding the bowl of oatmeal in one hand, “Give me one good reason why I should,” she chuckled, “solve my riddles!” 

Tyler flicked Izzy on the nose, snatching his oatmeal back and eating the last few bites defensively. 

“What are you gentlemen going to do today?” Alejandro asked, feeling Heather reaching behind him and touching his hips, “Darling, stop that.” 

“I can’t help ittt, you’re a magnet,” Heather chuckled. 

“I’m going to the library and Owen’s going to the culinary club’s work studio to frost his cake,” Noah stated. 

“In your pajamas?” Heather asked. 

“There’s no rule saying that I can’t,” Noah stood up to go return his bowl, only to trip on his nightshirt and fall to the floor, his shirt riding up behind him as Sasha helped nudge him to his feet, “Good girl, Sasha.” 

Owen’s eyes sparkled, “I didn’t know you wore such pretty shorts!” he cheered, “They’re so… tight,” 

Heather laughed, “ ‘Priceless’? Really? That mosquito bite of a butt is priceless?” she held her abdomen as she giggled until Owen shot her a glare that read ‘I will rupture your spleen with one punch’, and she fell silent. 

Noah blushed, quickly tugging his nightshirt back down and trying to come up with an excuse, “It… my sister bought me these and they’re comfortable, shut up,” he muttered. 

Owen rested a hand on his boyfriend’s shoulder, whispering into his ear, “Purple shorts or not, you’ve still got a pretty cute butt,” 

Noah blinked, flapping his hands and playfully shoving Owen, “You-you can’t just tell me things like that, you oaf,” he laughed, still blushing as the intercom on the dining hall ceiling clicked and turned on.

“ **Attention, all 10th grade pupils will report to the auditorium immediately for a special meeting! Thank you!** ”

Lindsay pouted, folding her arms, “That’s no fair! Are they gonna make us do homework?!” she whined. 

“Aw, I hope not, I was excited about today,” Trent added, grabbing his things and getting up from his seat. 

“Maybe this is a meeting about all of the  **mischief** that has gone on since our enrollment,” Courtney growled, glaring at Duncan. 

“Oh you haven’t even seen mischief yet,” Duncan laughed, slapping his knee and looking at the plastic portfolio full of devious plans that he kept in his left hand, “You haven’t seen half of it.” 

“After this meeting, I plan on enjoying my Saturday, so can you cool it with the hijinks for one weekend?” Gwen asked, slowly getting to her feet and dusting crumbs off of her nightgown, “I’m not really in the mood to get out of the pool and hear that you’ve set the dormitory building on fire.” 

“Oh don’t worry, Bobcut, I’ve got better plans,” Duncan said, cracking his knuckles as the teens left the dining hall and headed to the auditorium, a wide room with over a thousand seats facing a massive stage hidden by thick velvet curtains. 

As the aforementioned curtains parted, Dr. Oswald was standing at the end of the stage holding a microphone and a clipboard, “Good Morning, esteemed pupils, I hope you’ve enjoyed your weekend thus far,” she greeted with a curt wave. 

“We’d be enjoying it a lot more if we weren’t  _ here _ right now,” Duncan called out, a devious smirk on his face as the dean ignored his comment. 

“Disruptions aside, as students with what has now been over a month or so of experience in this building, we are tasking you with the responsibility to welcome a handful of transfers that our institute has accepted!” Dr. Oswald cheered, clapping by herself as she gestured to a group of 10th years who were on the right side of the stage, all vaguely uncomfortable with being put on the spot except for two- a boy and a girl- who were blowing kisses to the uninterested audience. 

“Oh! I know those two,” Owen whispered, “They competed in the Junior Olympics, I think they’re figure skaters,” 

“How cute,” Alejandro yawned, arching his back in his seat as Heather began to fall asleep leaning against him. 

“This is a new addition to our staff, his name is Don and he will be fulfilling the role of an Economics and Business Administration teacher alongside assisting Mr. McLean in holding Gym,” Dr. Oswald explained, gesturing to an adult man in a lavender shirt and yellow sweater vest. 

“Woah, he looks kinda like you, Duncan,” Cody whispered, only to get flicked in the back of the head by the punk in question. 

“Our wonderful transfer students are as follows, please welcome the magnificent Jacques and Josée Bouchard,” Dr. Oswald announced, watching the two teenagers who were blowing kisses wave and go to the back of the cluster. 

“Emmeline Park,” 

An aloof-looking young lady with jet black hair looked up from a large book, giving a curt wave and moving to the back. 

“Jennifer Wells II,” 

A giggly tanned girl with a sleek black ponytail gave an eager wave, running to the back as her heeled boots clicked against the stage. 

“Thomas Muscat,” 

A thin tanned young man in a blue cardigan waved, hurrying to the back to give Jennifer a hug. 

“Chester and Lorenzo Guillemont,” 

A chubby boy with strawberry blonde hair… maybe red, maybe light brown, we aren’t sure, and a thinner young man with dark skin and black hair gave a brief wave, glaring at one another before heading to the back. 

“Jason and Mickey Pattison,” 

Two pale young men gave a nervous wave, both accompanied by large dogs with service vests on as they walked to the back. 

“Woah, they have service dogs too, Noah!” Owen whispered. 

“That’ll be interesting,” Noah smiled, leaning back as he tried not to fall asleep, “Are we going to be here all day?” 

“Probably,” Alejandro whispered. 

“Quiet in the audience please,” Dr. Oswald requested, clapping briefly as she took a deep breath to continue, “Allison McCain,” 

A shorter young lady with extremely pale skin and black and white hair waved, walking to the back as her studded boots jingled with each step. 

“Ennui Sutherland,” 

A tall young man gave a quick wave, speedwalking to the back to reunite with Allison. 

“Broderich Wilkins,” 

Geoff stood up, clapping and cheering as he waved at the tanned young man who sheepishly waved back, “What’s up, Brody?! I missed you!” 

Brody blushed, grinning, “I missed you too, Dude!” he called out, breaking off from the group and jumping off of the stage to join Geoff in the audience. 

“Valentina Escobar,” 

An overweight girl in slacks and a tucked-in blouse saluted the audience, heading to the back and waving to her friend, a thin black young lady still waiting for her name to be called. 

“Sandra Wilkins,” 

The black girl hurried to the back, waving to the audience and jumping into Valentina’s arms, the two of them giggling. 

The audience clapped as Dr. Oswald smiled, taking another deep breath, “Alongside welcoming the new transfers to your group, we are employing a mentorship program, and almost every one of you will be assigned at least one 9th year to work with at certain hours,” she explained, turning to her left, “Mrs. O’Hallaran, please bring the 9th grade class to the stage, 10th year transfers go to join the audience.” 

A blonde woman with a French roll up-do and a thick skirt walked on stage, a collection of 9th graders coming up on stage and standing around nervously, the light beaming in from the windows onto the stage making them feel increasingly anxious. 

“I will now read out the 10th graders’ 9th grade charges,” Dr. Oswald cleared her throat and pulled out a collection of cards, “Mr. Burromuerto, you will be working with Miss Samantha Bettencourt,” she gestured to a blonde girl in a red dress who blushed, waving at Alejandro, “and Miss Sky D’Angelique.” 

A pale young lady with black hair waved at Alejandro, folding her arms and shifting her weight on her feet. 

Alejandro blinked, “Two young ladies doesn’t sound too bad,” he whispered to himself, checking the time, “Are we going to be able to leave anytime soon?” 

“Probably not,” Heather whispered. 

“Miss Maxwell will be working with Miss Scarlett O’Connor, Miss Amanda Bettencourt, and Mr. Maximus Horton-Joyce,” Dr. Oswald gestured to a girl with orange hair in a yellow cardigan and blue dress, a girl who looked very similar to Samantha save for a mole on her cheek, and a young man with purple hair and a devious smile. 

“Oh, look, it’s my cousin!” Izzy cheered, clapping. 

“Mine too,” Owen sighed, rolling his eyes. 

“Can you just give us our cards and get on with it? I’m tired,” Justin complained, folding his arms. 

Dr. Oswald huffed, folding her arms until the auditorium doors opened and Nurse Macintosh hurried up to the stage, climbing on and whispering into her ear, “Superintendent says you have to let them leave,” before waving at the 9th years and hurrying back out. 

Being released from the auditorium, the 10th years were told to stand and wait near the exit doors for their respective 9th year mentorship subjects and then could continue with their day. 

Noah relaxed in Owen’s arms, taking a puff of his inhaler and looking at his card, “We have, between the two of us, four people, I’ve got three girls,” he sighed as he felt someone tap him on the shoulder, “Welp, speaking of which.” 

“Hi… I’m Zoey,” a young lady with red hair in pigtails announced, waving as she sniffled, glancing down at Sasha, “I uhm… I have allergies.” 

“So do I,” Noah replied, glaring at Zoey, “That’s part of why she’s with me.” 

“Oh, o-okay!” Zoey stated, twiddling her thumbs nervously as a girl with jet black hair in a pink dress walked behind her, “Hi, Ella!” 

Ella giggled, waving and curtsying to Noah, “Elodie Boucheron, it’s a pleasure to meet you, feel free to just call me Ella!” she greeted, humming to herself as she waved at Owen. 

“Hello,” Noah greeted, giving a curt wave as he struggled to stay awake, “Where’s the last one?” 

A girl with extremely light blonde hair and pale skin tapped Noah on the shoulder, making him scream, “Oh I’m so sorry!” she exclaimed, backing up as Sasha barked at her. 

“He doesn’t like to be touched by people he can’t see,” Owen explained as Noah pressed his face into the blonde’s arm, before looking back up. 

“I’m Dawn, Dawn Skoll… it’s nice to meet you,” the blonde girl greeted, waving to Sasha, “I promise that I am not a threat, my friend.” 

Sasha was looking up at Noah, simply chuffing and giving her tail a brief wag in response to Dawn. 

“Now all we’re doing is waiting for your guy and then you can take me to the library, Lunchbox,” Noah sighed, watching a heavyset black young man approach, a soft smile on his face, “Here he is.” 

The young man pondered for a moment before moving his hands, ‘ _ Hello! My name is B-E-V-E-R-L-Y M-A-C-I-N-T-O-S-H, but please just call me B _ ’ he stated in American Sign Language. 

“Uhmmm… what’s he doing with his fingers?” Owen asked, blushing out of embarrassment. 

“He’s signing, he can’t speak,” Noah replied, looking at B and signing in response ‘ _ Hello! The blonde is O-W-E-N, he can’t sign, can you hear us? _ ’

‘ _ I can hear, yes! I just cannot speak.’ _ B pondered for a moment and then grinned, looking at Sasha, ‘ _ Pretty dog! _ ’ 

‘ _ Thank you! She’s very pretty! She is a pit, she is my service dog, her name is S-A-S-H-A, _ ’ Noah replied, kissing Owen on the cheek. 

‘ _ That is a very pretty name! I used to have a pit, but my mother did not like him, so she gave him away. _ ’ B said, wiping away tears as he waved at Owen. 

Noah gasped, ‘ _ That is so mean. When she is not working, you can pet her. _ ’ he promised, ‘ _ My name is N-O-A-H W-E-S-T-O-N _ ’ 

‘ _ Hi, N-O-A-H _ ’ B greeted, smiling. 

Owen poked Noah, “What’s he saying?” he asked, rocking back and forth on his heels. 

“His name’s B Macintosh and he can hear us, so you can talk to him if you want and he’ll respond in sign language,” Noah explained, looking down to Sasha, “He said you’re very pretty.” 

Sasha tilted her head to the side, sticking out her tongue. 

“Why do I feel like I’ve heard that last name before?” Owen asked, rubbing the side of his head. 

“Hi kids,” 

“Hi Nurse Macintosh- O h hhhh,” Owen said, connecting the dots in his head and looking at B, “Is that like… a coincidence or what?” 

B shook his head, waving at the nurse and grinning, ‘ _ Hi, Daddy! _ ’ he signed. 

Nurse Macintosh waved back, “Hi Buddy! I have to go organize the latest order of supplies for the infirmary, see you later!” he said, walking off. 

“The nurse is your dad?” Noah asked, raising an eyebrow. 

B nodded eagerly, a smile on his face, ‘ _ I can explain while we keep moving _ ’ he signed. 

“Your aura is a lovely colour as always, B,” Dawn cheered, jumping up to poke B on the nose and landing with grace back to the floor as the group walked to the library. 

Duncan leaned back against a wall, chewing gum as he was approached by Scott from the lock-in and a nervous-looking young man in a greyish-blue sweater, “Hey Scott, what’s your name, Chump?” he asked, cracking his knuckles. 

“D-david McGillis, but you can just call me Dave!” the young man greeted, waving, “I feel like there’s been a mistake with the pairing system, no offense.” 

“None taken, Dave,” Duncan chuckled, pulling a blueprint out of his portfolio, “Alright scrubs, who wants to go blow up a toilet?”

“Woohoo!” Scott cheered, dragging Dave by the collar of his sweater as he muttered ‘toilet water’ to himself over and over again. 

Tyler stood around, rocking on his heels until a black boy approached him, grinning, “Hey, man!” he greeted, waving. 

“What is up, my dude? Sha-greetings! The name’s Rudolph Jackson, but you can call me Lightning! Sha-yeah!” the boy greeted, patting Tyler on the back, “Where we goin?” 

Tyler blushed, “I’m gonna go with my girlfriend and we’re gonna go for a romantic walk,” he explained, waving at Lindsay. 

“Lightning don’t need no sha-girlfriend,” Lightning scoffed, putting his hands on his hips as he watched two 9th years approach Lindsay.

“Brick MacArthur, ma’am,” a young man in a green tank top greeted, giving Lindsay a polite nod. 

“Dakota Milton!” a blonde girl in a plaid dress with a black shawl greeted, grinning, “You’re, like, so pretty!” 

“Awwww, thank youuu!” Lindsay giggled, twirling her hair on her fingers, “Let’s go, we’re gonna go on a walk with my boyfriend! My name’s Lindsay, Lindsay Vuitton.” 

Dakota squealed, “Oh my god, like, the  _ clothing company _ Vuitton?!” she asked, jumping up and down. 

“I thought we made handbags… I dunno… hold on a sec,” Lindsay grabbed her phone, dialing a number and twirling her hair, “Hi Daddyyy! Uhm, does the company  _ just  _ make handbags, or do they make clothes, too? O h hh, thanks Daddy!” she closed her cellphone, “Yeah, we make clothes, too!” 

“Y a y! That’s  _ awesome! _ Okay, let’s go!” Dakota giggled, clapping her hands as she linked arms with Lindsay, the two heading out to the courtyard as Brick hurried behind them. 

Cody was sitting on a small platform, reading a comic book and talking to Sierra while they waited for their 9th years, “Your nightgown is pretty,” he commented. 

“Thanks! My mom sent it to me!” Sierra replied, twirling around as she sat next to Cody, “Why are they pairing us with the 9th years? Isn’t this something the 11th and 12th years should be doing?” 

“Keep a secret?” Cody asked, watching Sierra nod, “I don’t think they exist, I snuck onto the 11th year dormitory floor and knocked on all the doors, and there was  **no one there** .” 

“W ow, what about the 12th years?” Sierra asked, flopping onto her back. 

“I checked their dormitory level, too, nobody. I checked the 12th grade classrooms, nothing! Does anybody go to this school outside of us?” Cody asked. 

“Maybe there were 11th and 12th graders before we showed up, but they were removed from the facility because their existence would get in the way of the narrative,” Sierra pondered, peering over to look at Cody’s comic book.

“Did you just say ‘narrative’?” Cody asked. 

“Well yeah, haven’t you noticed that we’ve basically only ever seen the 9th years at the lock-in and just now? They’re being hidden and now that they’ve been introduced, we’ll see them integrated into the setting!” Sierra cheered, clapping. 

“Sierra… are we in a book right now?” Cody asked, raising an eyebrow, “Because the stuff you’re describing makes it sound like we’re in a book.”

Sierra opened her mouth to respond to that question, but was silenced when a piece of marble fell from the ceiling and hit her on the head, “Nah,” she replied, “It’s just a wild conspiracy theory.” 

Cody looked around nervously and blinked, “Well… okay then,” he kneaded his hands in his lap as he tried to forget what he just heard. 

“You know, you don’t have to hit me in the head, you can just tell me to be quiet,” Sierra grumbled to herself. 

If I told you to be quiet, it would ruin the flow of the story, Sierra.

“Who are you talking to?” Cody asked. 

“Nobody,” Sierra replied, folding her arms as four 9th graders approached them, “Hi guys!” 

“Jasmine Irving at your service,” an extremely tall black girl with an Australian accent said, tipping her hat as she smiled at Sierra. 

“Christopher Péladeau, but you can call be Topher,” a peachy white young man with a thick unruly pompadour waved, grinning. 

“Cameron Wilkins,” a thin black boy in a motorized wheelchair greeted. 

“Samuel Meritton,” an overweight white boy with fluffy brown hair greeted, a handheld video game system in his clutches as he nervously shifted his weight on his feet, “Just call me Sam.” 

“Cody Anderson,” Cody greeted, slowly climbing down from his perch and waving at the younger students, “That’s Sierra Schienberg… that is your last name, right? I saw it on your paper in History.” 

“Yup, it sure is!” Sierra laughed, dusting off her pants, “Well, I’m off to the pool.” 

“You don’t even have your bathing suit,” Cody argued. 

“Who says I’m wearing a bathing suit?” 

Cody rolled his eyes, suppressing a gag as he gestured to Cameron and Sam, “I’m going to the digital media studio to play video games,” he yawned, “Come on.” 

In the culinary club work room, Owen was working on frosting his cake- a large white cake with five circular tiers that was marbled with red velvet and airbrushed with chocolate, talking to B while the thick smell of buttercream frosting hung in the air. 

“So, how cool is it having the nurse as your dad?” Owen asked, sticking out his tongue as he peeked at the cake, making sure the frosting was even. 

B pondered to himself, typing down on his phone and playing the results back, “ _ I really like him, I’m so happy to be with him, and it’s very nice to live here. _ ”

Owen scratched the side of his head, “So… is your mom paying your tuition or do you get to go here for free because your dad works here?” he asked, blinking, “Oh my god, that was a rude question, I’m so sorry.” 

B shrugged, stirring cake batter as he typed, “ _ My father was a neurosurgeon before this, he had an accident and wasn’t stable enough for that work, so he decided to be a school nurse. My mother was just some lady he fell in love with _ .” 

Owen blinked, “What happened to him? Nurse Macintosh seems pretty stable to me,” he pressed a few fondant flowers into the frosting, sniffing the air. 

“ _ Shaky hands… he got into a car accident _ ,” B explained, sticking a finger in his cake batter and giving it a lick. 

“So, I assume he and your mom aren’t on good terms?” Owen asked. 

B shook his head, “ _ Dad didn’t know I existed until I was 5, she broke up with him and didn’t tell him she was going to have a baby… she was mean, and selfish, and she didn’t like me because I look so much like him, because I don’t talk… they just finished their custody battle for me, and Dad won _ ,” the text-to-speech app on B’s phone explained, B smiling as a tear ran down his face.

“W o w, that’s super cool, I’m glad you’re with a parent that loves you now,” Owen said, patting B on the shoulder, “You wanna try a piece of this cake?” 

B clapped, signing ‘ _ Yes! Yes! Yes! _ ’ and grabbing a serving knife. 

In a bathroom near the dean’s office, Duncan was dropping a few dye packs, a cherry bomb, and a bottle of car oil into the toilet, “Who’s ready, boys?” he asked, chuckling as he lit a match. 

“Can we not do this?!” Dave asked, shaking. 

“Quiet, nerdling,” Scott grumbled, grabbing Dave by the hem of his pants and carrying him out of the bathroom whine Duncan tossed the match into the toilet and scrambled out with them. 

**_BOOM!_ **

Sewage and broken porcelain leaked out into the hallway and the three boys hurried off before they could be seen. 

“Where are you going, Duncan?” Gwen asked, finger-combing her hair as she observed the three boys looking nervous, she then looked down and noticed the sewage water and busted toilet parts, “Oh my g- Duncan!” 

Duncan shrugged, grabbing Gwen by her waist and slinging her over his shoulder, running with his band of misfits to the gymnasium, “Sorry, Doll, it’s just business!” he laughed. 

In the library, Noah was reading a large book on agriculture while his three girls had each selected books of their own, getting immersed and lost in the words, Noah felt a tap on his left shoulder and jumped slightly, looking up to see Courtney and Scarlett, along with Emmeline Park, who was looking in a book about as thick as Noah’s, “and to what do I owe the pleasure of this abrupt disruption, Courtney?” he whispered. 

“Emmeline wants to sit with you, she sat at my table near Scarlett and decided we’re too ‘boring’,” Courtney scoffed. 

“Just call me Emma,” Emmeline grumbled, turning the pages of her book as she sat down. 

“F ine, whatever, I’m leaving, Scarlett and I are going to discuss the parameters of the student council-held Halloween party that’s next week,” Courtney whispered, clapping.

“It’s going to be so much fun!” Ella whispered. 

“It’s going to be so awesome!” Zoey whispered, grinning. 

A week later, and Noah was in his dorm room drinking some water after the end-of-session autumnal exams. 

“I can’t believe exams are in the middle of Halloween and everything, this bites,” Tyler grumbled in complaint, folding his arms over his legs and hugging his knees to his chest. 

“So much for Courtney’s Halloween party,” Noah laughed, leaning back in bed as he went over his exam scores, “I got 106% on the French exam, how about you guys?” 

“I got a 100%” Owen cheered from underneath Noah. 

“I got 84%!” Tyler exclaimed, pumping his fist in the air. 

Alejandro scowled, staring at his 45% and turning onto his side, “I’m not going to say anything,” he muttered, staring out the window at the densely clouded sky instead. 

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: So we've introduced a new host of characters! They will not appear as frequently, but they will definitely be integrated into the cast of the work! 
> 
> I wanted to do a big Halloween chapter, but I missed Halloween so I completely lost interest, next chapter will be the introduction of the session system the school has, and thusly the introduction of the winter session! We're a ways away from winter but they live in Canada, so it's snow time! Hope you enjoy! 
> 
> Just for a record, here are the characters who will not be featured in the story at any point: Mike, the vegans, Rodney, Staci, Beardo, Leonard, Rock, Spud, Carrie, Devin, Kitty, Dwayne and Junior, Taylor, Kelly, Tammy, and the daters


	11. Winter Session Shenanigans

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “It’s supposed to snow all day,” Alejandro stated, sitting on the shelf of the bay window wrapped in his duvet, the pop-up eyeballs on his caterpillar onesie bounced up and down as he spoke, “Where’s Heather?” 
> 
> “Still asleep,” Gwen yawned, “You think they’ll cancel class today?” 
> 
> “We go to boarding school, genius, there’s no such thing as a snow day anymore, we live here,” Noah and Courtney said in unison, turning to glare at one another. 

Gwen opened her eyes in her bed in the very early morning, shivering as she pulled her duvet up to her chest, “Why is it so cold?” she asked. 

“It’s late November, it’s basically winter here,” Izzy said, dangling from her bunk, “That’s why we’re in the winter session now!” 

Gwen climbed down from her bunk, rummaging through the closet until she found a blue hoodie, tugging it over her nightgown and sliding on her slippers, “I’m g-going outside, I’m gonna go see if the grass has died yet,” she shuddered. 

“Wait for Izzy!” 

Sierra shot awake, not even taking the time to style her hair into its usual separated twist, “And me!” she declared, getting up and brushing her nightgown off. 

Heather rolled over, still asleep under her heated duvet she snuck from the supply closet in the hallway as her dorm mates filed out. 

At the far end of the girls’ dormitory sector, a good cluster of the 10th grade students- including only four boys- were crowded around a massive bay window that looked out onto the courtyard. 

“What is everyone doing out here?” Gwen asked, tucking her hands under her armpits and turning to face the window, seeing a thick cascade of powdery white snow falling from the sky, sticking on the courtyard grass and slowly piling up, “It’s  **snowing** ?!” 

“You looked out the window, you tell me,” Noah scoffed, petting Sasha from his position on top of a table, shivering as the pitbull- off duty and vestless until 7 o’ clock- licked his hand.

“It’s supposed to snow all day,” Alejandro stated, sitting on the shelf of the bay window wrapped in his duvet, the pop-up eyeballs on his caterpillar onesie bounced up and down as he spoke, “Where’s Heather?” 

“Still asleep,” Gwen yawned, “You think they’ll cancel class today?” 

“We go to boarding school, genius, there’s no such thing as a snow day anymore, we  **live** here,” Noah and Courtney said in unison, turning to glare at one another. 

“Well… they might cancel class in the spirit of traditional snow days,” Gwen proposed, twirling her hair and tapping one of her feet. 

“Doubt it,” Emma sighed from her seat on the shelf of the bay window, brushing her hair, “Plus, I’m not really in the mood to miss class just because it’s cold out, it’ll be cold out for months.” 

“You guys are no fun,” Sierra piped up from behind Gwen, digging her feet into the hallway’s soft carpet, “What are you doing up here?” she glared at Alejandro, Cody, Duncan, and Noah. 

“Your floor has the bigger window,” Duncan replied, leaning against the wall. 

“I wanted to see the snow!” Cody giggled. 

“Those two idiots woke us up and demanded we come with them,” Alejandro yawned, rubbing his eyes, “We would have brought Tyler with us, but his bunk was empty.” 

“Wait, what? Where is he?” Lindsay asked, hurrying down the hallway and pulling Dakota after her, “Tyler?!” 

“She may not be the sharpest knife in the drawer, but she’s a good girlfriend,” Leshawna yawned, stretching as she looked at the snow, “You think Mr. McLean will make us do gym outside?” 

“Probably,” Izzy chuckled, hanging from the ceiling, “Izzy wants to build a snowman!” 

“I don’t think there’s enough snow on the ground to do that yet,” Emma stated, “It doesn’t look like anything more than a few centimeters,” 

“It will most definitely rise higher if my meteorological research is correct,” Scarlett added, pushing her glasses further up on her face. 

“The campus will soon be blanketed in a comforting mountain of white!” Dawn cheered, dangling from the rafters with Izzy as her long hair flopped downward in a chunky braid. 

“Both of you checked the weather this mornin’, shut up,” Anne-Maria grumbled, digging around in her hair for a can of self-tanner, “I hate winter, you get all pasty and you can’t wear your favourite clothes cause it’s too cold.” 

“And what, pray tell, is all of the commotion about this early in the morning?” 

The group of students turned, shuddering as Dr. Oswald stood tall and firm, already dressed in her pantsuit for the day with a cold icy glare, gripping Lindsay by her wrist after having found her downstairs. 

“Good Morning, Dr. Oswald,” they all said in nervous unison, Izzy and Dawn hurriedly jumping down from the rafters and standing up straight against the wall. 

“Good Morning,” Dr. Oswald thrust Lindsay out of her grasp towards the group of girls, “We live in Canada, you’ve all seen snow before, wrap it up. Breakfast is in twenty minutes, I expect you all to be dressed, groomed, and in the dining hall five minutes before, am I understood?” 

The students all exchanged a frightened look and nodded in agreement, hoping that if they smiled for long enough she’d vanish like a mirage. 

“Gentlemen, back downstairs immediately,” Dr. Oswald said cheerfully with a wide white smile and narrowed eyelids, clapping her hands as Alejandro tossed Noah over his shoulder and all four boys scattered, Alejandro tripping over his duvet halfway down the hall and throwing Noah two feet ahead. 

“OW! Alejandro you  **bitch!** ” Noah whined, slowly hoisting himself to his feet as Sasha nudged against him. 

“Mind the language, and no running,” Dr. Oswald corrected, silently vanishing down the hallway and walking down the steps. 

“She’s terrifying,” Gwen muttered, hurrying back to dormitory C4. 

“She reminds me of my gramma after she came back from the RCMP holding center!” Izzy giggled, skipping down the hallway and swinging on the doorframe into dormitory C4. 

“We’re not even going to unpack that, just hand me my skirt,” Gwen muttered, pulling her nightgown off and hunting for her hairbrush. 

In the dining hall, having gathered their breakfast, the boys in dormitory B3 were at their usual table- except for Tyler, who was still missing.

“The snow is so pretty!” Owen cheered, drizzling maple syrup and raspberry jam onto his french toast. 

“I don’t see the appeal, it looks nice as long as you aren’t touching it,” Noah retorted, eating a spoonful of oatmeal and resting his chin on his left hand. 

“Winter always reminds me of Christmas, I’m very excited to go home and celebrate with my family,” Alejandro sighed wistfully, humming to himself as he stared at his now-empty plate. 

“Me too,” Noah yawned, getting his fifth and last spoonful of oatmeal before staring at the bowl in disinterest, sliding it to Owen. 

“I had no idea you practiced,” Alejandro said with intrigue, folding his hands together with a smile on his face. 

“I mean I don’t know, my family’s Hindu-Christian practices have confused me for a long time, but you learn so much that you just believe in something to put your mind at ease,” Noah explained, “Diwali was earlier this month, so I missed that.” 

“That is unfortunate,” Alejandro replied, looking up, “Izzy, do not drop anything on my head.” 

“I’m kind of excited to hear my dad give me the same spiel again when he asks if I’ve met any girls,” Noah laughed, crossing his eyes as he deepened his voice to imitate his father, “‘Brahma didn’t give you a brain and me a wallet for you to say you’ve got better things to do than girls! If I had better things to do than girls, you wouldn’t exist!’” 

Alejandro and Owen exchanged a look as Noah laughed hysterically, falling out of his seat and wheezing as he kicked his legs. 

“Are you ever going to tell your parents you’re gay?” Alejandro asked, raising an eyebrow as Noah pulled himself back into his seat. 

  
  


“Oh Hell no, Dad would rip my head off and mom would cry about it until I was 50, they still don’t know my older sister is gay and she just got married last year,” Noah said, waving his hand as Sasha tugged on his shirt sleeve, “What is it?” 

Sasha turned, showing Noah the pouch with his inhaler in it and chuffing quietly. 

“Good girl, Sasha,” Noah replied, patting the pitbull on the head and grabbing his inhaler. 

**_BRRRRING!_ **

“Time for class, I’ll see you in English, Lunchbox,” Noah stated, giving Owen a kiss. 

“Time for math class,  _ mi amor _ ,” Alejandro swooned, hoisting Heather into his arms and nuzzling noses with her, “You are gorgeous.” 

Heather blushed, “Put me down, you jerk!” she laughed, shoving herself off of him and landing on her feet, straightening out her skirt as the teens hurried out to the main school building. 

Later that day, in their English class, the students filed in to find Chris sitting on his desk holding his clipboard with a big grin as usual. 

“What’s got you so chipper this morning?” Heather asked, taking out her English homework and rummaging through her backpack for lip gloss. 

“Do you have any idea where Tyler is?!” Lindsay asked, having gotten increasingly panicked from his absence since earlier in the morning. 

“Are we going outside for gym today?” Justin asked, his leg swung over the back of his seat as he groomed his hair. 

“To answer those questions: You’ll find out, no, and yes,” Chris said, cracking his knuckles, “A big shipment has just arrived and I’m taking you cool cats downstairs to come get your winter packages from your parents! Well… the other holiday package will come on December 23rd.” 

“We won’t be in school on December 23rd, that’s winter break,” Alejandro stated, scratching his head in confusion. 

“Oh contraire, my friend, you guys do not have  _ class _ on winter break,” Chris said, smirking as he rubbed his devious hands together, “You aren’t allowed to go home.” 

“What?!” Owen asked, tears in his eyes. 

“We can’t celebrate Christmas with our parents?!” Lindsay asked, tugging at her hair. 

“We’re supposed to spend our winter break  **here** ?!” Courtney hissed, slamming her massive binder on her desk and flipping through the school’s code of conduct, “It doesn’t say anything about that in here! Nowhere in here!” 

“I believe I can be of some help in explaining,” Dr. Oswald said cheerfully, peeking her head into the classroom and walking to sit on Chris’ desk, proudly folding her hands in her lap as her legs touched the floor, “Students are to remain here for winter break to inspire decorum and detachment from childish familial engagements, you will still have plenty of fun during your winter break, but you will have it here.” 

Half of the class was silently in tears as the dean stood up and left. 

“They can’t just keep us away from our parents! That’s not fair!” Beth sobbed, wiping her eyes. 

“Am I the only one who doesn’t really care?” Emma asked, flipping through a book. 

“Nope, I dug through the conduct manual and contracts and I am officially over it,” Courtney agreed, resting a hand on Emma’s, “O o oo, are you reading a book on game theory?” 

Emma blushed, biting her lip, “Mhm… you wanna read?” she asked. 

“If you don’t mind,” Courtney giggled, leaning over and peering at the pages, her curly hair bouncing at her shoulders as Emma tried not to get distracted. 

“Put the book away, girls, we’re heading downstairs to go open your packages,” Chris declared, hopping off of his desk and heading out to the courtyard as the teens followed. 

In the courtyard, near the massive gate that surrounded the Muskoka Institute of Success’ entrance, there was a large truck that held several massive boxes addressed to the different students, the truck driver sitting in the driver’s seat of his vehicle smoking a cigarette as the snow continued to pile up. 

“Here we go, kids! Everyone who’s able, grab your boxes and take them inside, the others will be transported by guard staff and we’ll open them in the main hall with Don’s class before gym,” Chris instructed. 

Alejandro grabbed his box, heaving as he hauled it inside, the box being about half his height and heavy with handles on the sides for easy transport. 

A good half of the class gathered their boxes and got them inside, the rest being brought inside by muscular guards in red and green polos, all except one. 

“Oh my g- where’s Tyler?” Chris asked, tugging at his hair. 

“I’ve been t-trying to get inside for four hours!” 

Chris turned his head and saw Tyler, sopping wet and shivering with a pile of snow on top of his head and shoulders, cheeks and nose slapped a vibrant pinkish-red from the bitter cold. 

“Hello Tyler, I’ll have the guards carry in your box, hurry inside before you lose a foot,” Chris scoffed nonchalantly, finger-combing his hair as Tyler hurried inside. 

“TYLER!” Lindsay cheered, hoisting Tyler into her arms and spinning him around, kissing his cheeks, “Why are you still in your pajamas? Why are you  **wet** ?!” 

“I d-don’t wanna talk about it,” Tyler muttered, his teeth chattering as Lindsay kissed his neck, “Mm… th-thank you,” he sniffled, his clothes dripping with icy melted snow onto the floor. 

**_BRRRRING!_ **

“Alright, everyone, outside for gym!” Chris cheered, clapping as he directed the students into the courtyard, “You too, Tyler.” 

Tyler groaned, heading out to the courtyard as Lindsay eagerly followed, the guards carrying the mass of boxes to the dormitory building on dollies. 

In the courtyard, with the snow piled up and getting close to a meter, with the snow still pouring down from the sky in the wet, frigid air. 

“This is pretty fun, but I’m super excited to open my box, especially now that I know I won’t be able to go home with my parents for Christmas,” Owen said, rolling a small ball of snow to polish off his and Alejandro’s snowman. 

“Me too,  _ mi hermano _ , with such a large box I’m admittedly wondering what my parents sent me,” Alejandro chuckled, tossing the ball on top of the snowman and pressing in the buttons for his eyes and mouth, “Noah, you have the carrot.” 

Owen looked around, seeing Sasha seated obediently next to him, staring at the snowman, “What is it, girl? Where’s Noah?” he asked playfully, sticking twigs in the side of the snowman until Noah burst out, falling on his face into the snow as the snowman collapsed, “Oh my gosh, how’d we manage to build the snowman on top of you?!” 

Noah spat out a mouthful of snow, wheezing as he grabbed his inhaler from Sasha’s vest, “Ask  _ Alejandro _ , next time you slam down a massive ball of frozen water to build a snowman, make sure you’re looking where you slam instead of at your girlfriend’s  **butt** !” he snarled, shuddering. 

Alejandro blushed, “I- I was not!” he argued, stomping his foot in the snow, “I… okay, maybe,” he grumbled. 

“Well, at least we’re doing better than them,” Owen laughed, gesturing to Chester- who goes colloquially by ‘Chet’- and Lorenzo, fighting near a stone wall over the final ball for their snowman. 

“I rolled it, I should get to put it on!” Chet argued, folding his arms. 

“Well I rolled the big one, so I should get to put it on!” Lorenzo argued, huffing as he shoved his brother. 

“No fair!” Chet snapped, tossing the head on and huffing in triumph until his thinner brother tackled him, demolishing the snowman and sending them both flying into the stone wall. 

“Ouch,” Alejandro said through clenched teeth, looking around to ponder, “ _ Ay carajo _ , where’s Tyler?” 

“Out on the pond with Jacques and Josée, he wanted to get ready for hockey season,” Noah laughed through chattering teeth as Sasha nudged up against him, “I know, I know, good girl.” 

At the skating pond-a large pond which was connected to the courtyard by a cobblestone path- the skating cousins whirled around on the delicate ice as snow fell around them, gracefully spinning one another away and catching one another with equal accuracy, Josée’s hair flowing in the brisk wind as snow fell on her face. 

“Oh is this not  _ beautiful _ ?” Josée asked, staring at Jacques with shimmering eyes as he spun her in a tight circle, “Smell the minty air and the encroaching spirit of Noël, is it not magnificent?!” 

Jacques tossed his cousin in the air, biting back an exhilarated shiver as he stared into her eyes when she fell into his arms again, “It is, Josée, although it is quite unfortunate that no one else in our grade wants to form a competitive figure skating team, and we cannot compete in outside competitions without a team,” he huffed to himself.

“It is so frustratingly unfortunate, but, at least we have each other,” Josée insisted, batting her eyelashes at Jacques as he launched her across the pond before retrieving her with elegance. 

“Oh my  _ goodness _ ,” Jacques huffed, breathlessly panting upon releasing Josée, staring ahead as his breath puffed out into the air in small bursts, “ _ C’est magnifique _ ,” he whispered, stunned as he watched Tyler skating on his own at the opposite end of the pond, his hair whirling around him like a ribbon. 

“Jacques, what on Earth are you doing?! We have twenty minutes of gym left!” Josée demanded, folding her arms and pouting as her cousin eyed Tyler, the blonde beginning to shake as his eyes darted back and forth. 

“He is  _ tremendous _ , Josée, I must have him!” Jacques whimpered, clapping his cold-rouged hands together and spinning in a tight circle. 

“As a  **skating** partner?” Josée growled, rage in her eyes. 

“Non, as a  **partner** partner,” Jacques sighed, tugging at his tight pants and struggling to avoid staring, “His hair is shimmery and brown like  _ chocolat _ , Josée, I’d be a fool not to!” 

“Oh quiet and go before your drool puddle melts the ice,” Josée hissed, skating away from her cousin and practicing by herself. 

Jacques skated over to Tyler, doing a triple axle and landing on the ice with both feet on the ground, his thick blonde pompadour bouncing as he landed, “ _ Bonjour, mon ami _ , could I possibly interest you in a bit of partner skating?” he asked, flashing his camera smile until the ice cracked beneath Tyler, sending him plummeting into the frigid water below the ice, “ _ Oh mon dieu! _ ” 

Lindsay, who had been exchanging fashion tips with Dakota and Jen, turned to look in the direction of the pond, “Oh my gosh, Tyler!” she yelled, dragging her boyfriend out of the icy water and dragging him through the snow to the door. 

Near a patch of trees, Gwen gently brushed her hair as Courtney built a snow-castle, with Emma watching unamused from a distance. 

“What do you think of us not being able to go home?” Gwen asked, slowly getting a knot out of her locks. 

“It’s not like my family would have been all giggles and grins to celebrate Christmas with me after the stunt I pulled at my  _ quinceañera _ ,” Courtney scoffed, “I’m over it, I just hope they had the human decency to not remind me about it in the stuff they sent in the box.” 

“What did you do at your quinceañera?” Emma asked, looking up, suddenly interested as her eyes shimmered. 

“Ohhh… I may have suplexed my Papa onto the concrete of our pathway and thrown him into the chocolate fountain… and accidentally on-purpose broke his left leg and pelvis,” Courtney muttered, rubbing her arm, “It’s a weird story, I really don’t wanna talk about it. It’s part of the reason why they sent me here.” 

Emma rested a hand on her hip, “Well, it’s certainly interesting,” she said with a grin, biting her lip as she suppressed a smile. 

“It’s  **hella** interesting,” Gwen laughed, patting Courtney on the shoulder. 

**_BRRRRING!_ **

“Gym’s over, kids! Let’s get a move on!” Chris laughed, clapping as he walked to the main school building’s back door, “French time!” 

The teens groaned, heading inside, a good majority of them shivering as the snow piled up to a full meter, still rocketing to the Earth as time ticked by. 

Upon arriving inside, the cluster of teens was met by an exasperated Dr. Oswald and a smiling Nurse Macintosh. 

“Due to circumstances that I couldn’t care less about, namely the inclimate weather, the remainder of class is cancelled for today and you may all go to the dormitory building to open your packages from home,” Dr. Oswald muttered, rolling her eyes and storming off after she finished, “I hate your medical jurisdiction more than I hate your stupid hair, Victor.” 

“Love you too, Boss,” Nurse Macintosh said with a big grin, “Mr. Freeland, please follow me.” 

Tyler sniffled, still shaking as ice-cold water trailed off of his hair and clothes, following Nurse Macintosh to the infirmary. 

About two hours and thirty minutes later, in the dormitory building, the boys in dorm B1 were opening their packages. 

Cody sighed, noticing that his box was a bit smaller than the other boys’, and opening it to crawl inside, immediately cheering upon coming out with an armful of tubs of wrapped sweets, “Candy! H ahahaha! Woohoo!” he yelped, fighting the desire to dig in as he rummaged through the rest of the box. 

Duncan pulled out a stuffed green spider, tears running down his face, “SCRUFFY!” he sobbed, hugging the plush arachnid and kissing it, “Oh, I missed you so much, Buddy!” 

Ezekiel and DJ began to chuckle until Duncan pulled out a knife the length of his upper arm from the box, grinning as the two quieted down to sort through their own boxes. 

“Sweet, yo, Pops bought me a new phone, eh?” Ezekiel chuckled, pulling a smartphone out of the box and kissing it, tossing his sliding keyboard phone onto his bunk. 

“I got new pajamas!” DJ cheered, pulling out a pair of thick fleece pajamas that were a beautiful beige colour with a dark brown pocket, with matching slippers that looked like spotted deer- they even had felt antlers. 

“O o oo, so did I!” Duncan chuckled, pulling out a pair of soft black and green pajamas, “Mmm… they’re so fuzzy.” 

“So much  **candy** !” Cody cheered, pulling out a thick box of winter clothes, “W o ah, s ick! I wonder what else is in here!” 

Duncan pulled out a thick green heated duvet, “Oh  **hell** yeah, I love my parents so much, I kinda dig being able to spend Christmas out of jail,” he yawned, shivering a little as he wrapped the duvet around himself, “I wish I could just curl up and take a nap, but I’ve still got so much more of the box left to open.” 

Cody dove inside of his box, still counting all of the massive packages of candy that it contained, “O h hhh I need to figure out what I’m gonna  **do** with all of this!” he cheered, jittering as he paced in circles, picking up a blanket, “Awwww.” 

In dormitory B2, the boys were also digging through their boxes. 

“C o ol, I got a new pair of pajamas,” Harold cheered, holding up a yellowish-green onesie with brown feet and a hood with a yellow stem coming from the top, “Oh sick! It’s kind of like a banana!” 

Geoff took out a new hairbrush, pink heated duvet and four sweaters out of his box, crying over a pink sweater covered in blue hearts as he sniffed it, “Awww, my mom knit this one herself, it smells just like her,” he sobbed, wiping his eyes. 

“Why is everything you wear pink?” Trent scoffed, pulling a jar of peppermint spoons out of his box. 

“I dunno, Dude, why is everything you wear ugly?” Geoff asked, pulling out a tiny Christmas tree and wiping his eyes again, “Oh this is so  _ sweet _ .” 

Trent huffed, grabbing a few books from his box and putting them on a shelf near his bunk before peeking at a large package of body wash, “I love this scent, this is sick!” he cheered, smelling a bottle of body wash before stowing them on his shower caddy. 

Geoff grabbed a large jug of lavender bubble bath from his box, peering around and finding a pair of pink pajamas with a thick fluffy tail on the seat of the pants, “Aw man, this is so cute,” he laughed, hugging the pajamas as he collapsed onto his bunk.

In dormitory B3, Owen was struggling not to eat the candy and cookies he’d found in his box while Noah and Alejandro continued to sift through theirs. 

“Would you like me to hide the candy so you’re less tempted to eat it all, Owen?” Alejandro asked, pulling out a pair of slippers with gold trim, “Oh  **yes** .” 

“Nono, I’ve got it!” Owen sighed, biting his fingers as he looked down at Sasha- who was chewing on a bone she’d received in Noah’s box- “Stop it!” he begged, clasping his hands together as he rummaged through his box, pulling out a collapsible shower brush, “O ooo… pretty bottles, I wonder what this stuff tastes like!” 

Noah looked down at Owen’s bunk from his position curled in his duvet shuffling through his box, “Owen, wait, don’t that’s-” 

Owen belched, having emptied the bottles and looking at his tongue- which was now coloured black and streaking his chin different colours- “O o hh h,” he moaned, clutching his stomach. 

“Ink,” Noah said through gritted teeth. 

Owen sheepishly grinned, giggling as he licked the ink off of his chin and fingers, looking into his box again, “Aww, it’s a picture of my family’s Christmas card,” he sobbed, wiping his eyes with his wrist as he stared at the photo, “They edited me into it! A w w w!” 

Noah smiled, rooting through his box and pulling out two hairbrushes, “Nice,” he sighed in content, pulling out a letter attached to a fishing tackle box full of candy, his cheeks flushing darker as he read the letter, “Oh come on, Mama,” he muttered out of embarrassment. 

“What is it?” Alejandro asked, looking outside for a brief moment at the snow. 

“My mom always sends me this long-winded letter calling me her ‘Little Prince’ and asking me if I’m interested in any girls,” Noah huffed, tossing a handful of photos at the foot of his bed, “And sending me photos of all the ‘lucky’ 13 and 14-year-old girls my father keeps trying to set me up with.” 

“Aren’t you 16?” Alejandro asked, looking vaguely uncomfortable. 

“As far as my dad’s concerned I’ll be 13 until I’m 18 because I haven’t gotten any taller,” Noah stuck out his tongue, unamused as he pulled a stuffed gecko out of the box, hugging it to his chest as he tossed the photos in the garbage can, “Hi, Taffy,” he greeted the stuffed animal, kissing it briefly. 

“ _ Taffy _ ?” Alejandro chuckled, finger-combing his hair, “That’s adorable… I hope Tyler comes soon, he hasn’t opened his box yet.” 

The dormitory’s door creaked open, and Lindsay walked in, Tyler’s arm over her shoulder as she helped him inside, “You gonna be okay until dinner?” she asked, kissing Tyler’s cheek. 

“Mhm,” Tyler replied with a brief sniffle, shutting the door behind him after Lindsay left and wandering over to his bunk to change clothes. 

“Welcome back, Human Popsicle, how was the infirmary?” Owen giggled, pulling out a teddy bear from his box and sniffing it, imbibing the fragrant aroma of chocolate. 

“Why are you still wet?” Alejandro asked, narrowing his eyelids as Tyler stripped off his soaked hoodie and T-shirt. 

“Lose any toes?” Noah laughed, putting Taffy down to brush his hair. 

“Nope, got all ten,” Tyler chuckled, massaging his weather-reddened cheeks before tugging on his pajamas, “And hypothermia… I had to lie down wrapped in a blanket for two hours.” 

“Sucks to be you,” Noah chuckled, “Check your box, there’s probably a heated duvet in there… also don’t just sit around in your soggy gitch.” 

Tyler nodded, opening his box and pulling out a red blanket with fluffy blue trim, “Y a y! I love my Mom so much, she stitched the trim on for me,” he sighed in relief, sniffling and wrinkling his nose before sneezing into his pajama sleeve. 

“God bless you,” Alejandro said jovially. 

“ _ A tes souhaits _ ,” Noah added, pulling a book out of his box.

“Th-thanks,” Tyler replied, pulling out a large plastic package, “Woohoo! I’ve got enough hot chocolate to last me ‘till the spring session!” 

“Woah, are those spoons made of chocolate?” Owen asked, his eyes shimmering as Tyler glared at him, “I know, I know… I’ll just make some in the culinary club studio.” 

Tyler rolled his eyes, sneezing into his sleeve again. 

“Bless you,” Noah and Alejandro said in unison. 

In dormitory B4, home to four of the male transfer students, Chet, Lorenzo, Thomas, and Jacques were opening their boxes. 

“ _ A Voila! _ ” Jacques cheered, pulling out a pair of glittery purple ice skates, “Maman had my pricey red-soles turned into skates! Y e s!”

Thomas looked at the skates with a narrowed glare and an outstretched tongue, “Hmmm… oh those are positively scrumptious! I wish I knew how to skate, I’d borrow them sometime,” he said, resting a hand on Jacques’. 

Jacques flushed, putting the skates to the side and continuing to hunt until a loud crash interrupted his and Thomas’ impromptu fashion show, “If the two of you are going to hurt yourselves, could you at least do it in the hallway? We’re in the middle of something,” he growled, pouting as he turned to Lorenzo and Chet, who were roughhousing on the floor over an orange stuffed cat that was in Chet’s box. 

“Who says you get to keep Cheddar?!” Lorenzo hissed, shoving Chet onto the floor and pinning him down. 

“I did! He’s  **mine** !” Chet argued, rolling over on top of Lorenzo and preparing to throw a punch. 

Thomas leaned over, peering into the boys’ box, “You guys know there’s a cat in each box, right?” he asked, making a flamboyant gesture with his non-dominant hand, mouth pursed in disgust and tongue out as he and Jacques looked at the new sweaters, boots, and jackets they’d received in their packages. 

Lorenzo looked in his box and pulled out another stuffed orange cat, his pupils dilating as he hugged it, giving it a sniff, “Cheddar!” he cheered, kissing the cat and keeping it close to his chest, “Sorry for being a jerk about him, Chet.” 

Chet blushed, blinking at his brother, “Wait… for real?” he asked, tucking a tuft of his hair behind his ear. 

Lorenzo nodded, “Dude… I just realized that I’ve been hating on you for like no reason,” he laughed, blushing out of embarrassment, “I love you, man.” 

Chet tackled Lorenzo, “I love you too, Bro!” he cheered, the two playfully roughhousing on the floor again.

On the girls’ dormitory floor, the ladies decided to sit near the bay window and open their packages from home, the excuse being that when they were finished, they could all go to dinner together without any distractions. 

“Oo o, this is so pretty!” Heather said, pulling out a glittery blue dress and holding it to herself, turning to the left and right, “It’s Ralph Lauren I think.” 

“I doubt Ralph Lauren makes anything that flashy,” Gwen laughed, pulling out a black cardigan and a dark blue dress with green accents, “O oo, I kinda like this.” 

Emma pulled out a stack of books and a plaid maroon skirt, “Hmph,” she said, disinterested. 

Courtney grabbed a large tin of horchata mix and seven cans of condensed milk, “This was definitely my gramma’s doing,” she laughed, picking up a large tin of elaborately decorated cookies, “Definitely Gramma.” 

Lindsay pulled out a pair of leather heeled boots and cheered, clapping and glancing over at Dakota, a smile on her face as Dakota pulled out the same pair of boots, “E e e e! That’s so c u te! We should totally wear those to gym tomorrow!” she said. 

Dakota swung her hair over her left shoulder, “Oh totally! I’d be so up for that!” she said, pressing her hands to her cheeks as she tucked the boots back into her box. 

**_DING-DONG!_ **

“Since when is there a traditional church bell for dinner?” Gwen asked, raising an eyebrow and checking to make sure it wasn’t the boys blasting sound effects at the opening to the hallway, “Welp, let’s go, I’m freezing and ready to take a hot shower.” 

“I wonder what’s gonna be for dinner,” Lindsay pondered, finger-combing her hair as Dawn slowly glided past her. 

“I can sense a warm and peaceful aura surrounding the dining hall, whatever it is, it will be no grueling task to swallow,” Dawn giggled, jumping onto the rafters with Izzy and gently swinging to the doorway and down to the dining hall. 

Upon arriving in the dining hall and stepping up to the counter, seeing the bubbling dishes reminiscent of witch’s cauldrons in front of them, Gwen turned to look at Dawn, “Soup is a four-letter word, you made that so much more complicated than it needed to be,” she chuckled, pointing to a deep steel bowl and blinking as Chef filled her ceramic bowl with two ladles of purple liquid, “Cool.” 

Dawn grabbed a bowl of vegetables and a glass from the counter, waving at Chef and giving him a curt smile before pouring herself a glass of water and going to sit with the 9th grade girls. 

Heather grabbed her food with Lindsay and sat down with the boys from dormitories B3 and B2, “I hope we’ll be getting some  **solid** food during the winter session, because I am not drinking my dinner until March,” she scoffed in vague disgust, pushing the steaming bowl of red fluid away from her and taking a slow sip of her tea. 

“I don’t really care, I’m just glad I can eat it,” Noah added, his eyelids narrowed as he ate slow spoonfuls of tomato soup, glaring at Owen every time the blonde’s eyes wandered to his bowl while Sasha gnawed on a bone underneath Noah’s feet. 

Owen licked his lips in desperation, turning to Tyler- who was listlessly staring at his bowl rather than trying to eat- and sheepishly clasping his hands together, “Hey Tyler, since you’re not-” 

Tyler interrupted Owen’s sentence with a sneeze, groaning in frustration as he rested his elbow on the table, holding his head in one hand. 

“Bless you,” Alejandro, Geoff, and Trent uttered in between spoonfuls. 

“ _ A tes souhaits _ ,” Owen and Noah said in unison. 

“E w, gross!” Heather and Justin whined. 

Tyler flushed pink, looking nervous as he sniffled and sneezed into his sleeve again, “What?!” he asked aggressively, looking down at his sleeve and seeing the mess of shimmering dampness on the fabric, “Oh… hehehe,” he quickly wiped off his hoodie sleeve and his face, going back to staring at his dinner and giving his soup the occasional swig in between gulps of hot chocolate. 

Noah finished half of his meal and sighed out of happiness, his cheeks flushed dark as he slid his bowl of soup to Owen, taking slow sips from his cup of tea, “That was amazing,” he laughed, leaning back in his seat before sitting up straight again, ignoring his boyfriend ravenously pouring the remainder of his soup down his throat and belching loud enough to strain the restrictions of the sound barrier. 

“You are an ill-mannered pig,” Heather hissed. 

“I  _ love _ when you get all temperamental,” Alejandro whispered, kissing Heather’s neck and purring as he pressed a hand to her knee, a dopey look of raw admiration shining in his emerald eyes, bright enough to pierce Heather’s soul. 

“Stop it, you smell like tomatoes,” Heather hissed, secretly reaching under the table and pressing a hand to Alejandro’s thigh while drinking her tea. 

Lindsay slowly drank a cup of hot chocolate, deciding to forego dinner and consume some of the sweets she’d been sent from home instead, reaching over to braid Tyler’s hair, “Aww, it’s still wet!” she noted. 

“It takes a long time to dry,” Tyler yawned, sneezing into the cloth napkin on his tray and grabbing a lock of his hair, feeling it squeak underneath his fingertips. 

“I think you might have a cold, Tyler,” Alejandro said blankly, taking a bite of a carrot.

Tyler blinked, scratching the side of his head and nodding, “Ohhh, yeah, that’s what the nurse said, too,” he chuckled, finishing off his hot chocolate and taking a few sips of his soup. 

“E w w!” Heather and Justin gagged, scooting away from Tyler as Trent changed tables entirely. 

“Ridiculous,” Noah grumbled, taking another sip of his tea and handing Tyler his napkin, a vague smile on his face and more a look of ‘Well, are you going to use it or not?’ before Tyler blew his nose. 

Lindsay frowned, giving her boyfriend a kiss on the cheek and finger-combing his hair, “C’mon, Tyler, I’ll dry your hair off and braid it for you!” she cheered, linking arms with her boyfriend and leaving the dining hall to go to the dormitory building. 

In the dormitory building, Gwen was sitting up in bed, brushing the hair of a cloth ragdoll that she’d received in her box and looking out at the mass quantity of snow that had piled up on the ground. 

**_Knock! Knock! Knock!_ **

Heading over to the door, Gwen jumped upon seeing Dawn, Emma, Courtney, and Scarlett, “What is it?” she yawned, “It’s late.” 

Izzy swung out of the doorway from behind Gwen, “We’re going outside! There’s almost two meters of snow and we can watch from the roof!” she whispered, grabbing Gwen by the waist of her nightgown and swinging through the rafters one-handed, swinging into the massive bay window and forcing it open. 

The girls climbed out of the bay window and turned to hoist themselves onto part of the dormitory building’s roof, staring at the dense, gray night sky and watching the snow fall beautifully and pile onto the ground in an untouched white blanket. 

Untouched- that is- until Izzy grabbed Courtney by her wrist and yanked the two of them in, falling into the snow with a playful thump as the other girls laughed and joined in. 


	12. Hair and Hijinks

“Good Morning! It’s Saturday!” Izzy cheered, bursting in through the C4 dormitory window, covered in snow in nothing but her tank top and underwear, “Who’s ready for some fun?!” 

“I’m not, shut up,” Heather grumbled, groggily sitting up from her bed and glaring at Izzy, looking at the tiny bits of sun peeking into the windows from between the clouds.

“Buzzkill Heather aside, who’s ready for some fun?!” Izzy asked, clapping her hands eagerly and swinging back and forth from the ceiling. 

“I’m going to the media center to watch movies,” Gwen yawned, stretching out as she picked out a dress. 

“O oo, that sounds nice, who’re you going with,  _ Courtney _ ?” Izzy asked, giggling as she poked Gwen on the nose, the goth blushing and rushing to pull her hair into a bun. 

“No- Maybe… shut up, Izzy!” Gwen grumbled, tugging her dress over her head and hurrying out of the dormitory, “Mind your own business!” 

“I live in the ceiling! All business is Izzy’s business!” Izzy laughed, clapping as she swung out of the window again, scaling the rocks and sitting on the roof with Dawn, “That was fun!” 

“I do wish to try sometime, it looked fun,” Dawn sighed, resting her hands on her thighs, “We should go downstairs for breakfast.” 

“We should… but I don’t wanna,” Izzy laughed, grabbing Dawn by the seat of her pajama pants and climbing down the roof, jumping from the dormitory building and swinging into the dining hall with one arm, “Express travel!”

Dawn wobbled to the dining hall floor, brushing snow off of her pants and heading over to the counter, smiling as she grabbed an apple and headed to her usual table with Zoey and Bridgette. 

“Why do you always hang out with that girl with the orange hair? Do you like her?” Zoey asked, twirling a strand of hair on her finger while she ate her oatmeal with her free hand. 

Dawn shook her head, “Isabelle is just my friend! I have my eyes set on much larger pursuits,” she sighed wistfully, grinning as B passed the girls’ table, ‘ _ Good Morning B! Your A-U-R-A is a lovely shade of purple today!’ _

B smiled, blushing as he set his empty breakfast tray down, flapping his hands before properly signing, ‘ _ Hi, D-A-W-N! Yours is really pretty, too! Do you want to come to the… the… fuck… M-E-T-A-L S-H-O-P with me?’ _

Dawn’s eyes widened and she pressed both hands to her cheeks before responding, ‘ _ I would love to! But I have to finish my apple, first _ ’

B nodded eagerly, ‘ _I’ll be waiting by the door with H-A-R-O-L-D_ _since he has the keys’_ he replied. 

Dawn hurriedly ate her apple, chucking the core in the trash and running across the dining hall to the exit doorway. 

“It’s always the quiet guys,” Bridgette sighed, resting her head in one hand, “Geoff should be down here by now… I wonder where he is.” 

“I think he’s over there… he’s usually wearing a cowboy hat,” Zoey giggled, gesturing to Geoff, who was at a table with a group of other boys, his hat off and his hair swishing down at his sides, “Isn’t his hair usually shorter?” 

Bridgette whipped her head around, jumping out of her seat and walking over, biting her lip as she sat on the boys’ table, “Hi, Geoff,” she said, her voice smooth as she reached out to grab a piece of his hair, “I… how did this happen?” 

“That’s what we’re trying to figure out, I went to put my hat on, something hard fell out of my hair and it just sorta… unraveled down my back,” Geoff said nervously, tugging at the locks as though to make sure they were real, “My hair’s never been this long.” 

Bridgette blinked, sparkles in her eyes as she nuzzled against the pure blonde locks, “I think it suits you,” she muttered, pulling a ponytail holder with a blue heart jewel on the back out of her own hair and gently tugging Geoff’s hair into a ponytail. 

Geoff smiled, kissing Bridgette on the cheek, “Thanks, Bridge,” he said, “We’re gonna go play hockey, I’ll see you later.” 

Bridgette waved, walking back to her table and sitting down, realizing that only Zoey was left, “So… are you doing anything today?” she asked. 

Zoey looked around, “Oh, me? Uhm… I dunno, wanna go to the gym and play volleyball?” she asked, “None of the other girls ever ask me to hang out with them and Noah’s busy.” 

“Busy doing what?” Bridgette asked, raising an eyebrow as Zoey gestured to a different table, where Noah was sitting in Owen’s lap and the two were making out with each other- that is until Owen fell out of his seat and landed on his back, “Oh… being gay, cool… what about Ella?” 

Zoey sighed, “Probably in the dormitory building waiting for Dave to wake up,” she muttered, pouting in frustration, “Let’s go play volleyball.” 

Bridgette nodded, pinning her hair back and following Zoey out of the dining hall to the main school building, knowing that the gymnasium was kept open for recreation on weekends. 

Across the dining hall, Lindsay, Leshawna, and Eva were sitting and finishing their breakfast. Lindsay was eagerly doodling a to-do list on a sheet of paper in glittery red ink, humming to herself as she shuffled in her seat, Leshawna sketching out designs for earrings on a different sheet of paper. 

Eva blinked, scanning across the dining hall and looking up to see Izzy dangling from the rafters, “Where are you going today?” she asked, looking bored while staring into Izzy’s eyes. 

“Going to go help Duncan with a project! You should come!” Izzy giggled, jumping down on top of the table and waiting for Eva’s reply with patient eyes. 

Eva sighed, giving the ginger a shrug and nodding in agreement to go along, dusting off her bodysuit and walking with Izzy out of the dining hall to go meet up with Duncan. 

Half an hour later, with breakfast over and everyone in their separate corners, Tyler woke up in dormitory B3, exhausted and a bit confused as his dorm mates were gone. 

“Mmm… what time is it?” Tyler yawned, getting up to go to the bathroom and tripping over something, falling to the floor, “Ouch!” he looked down near his ankles and was in shock, realizing that he had tripped on what now had to be several meters of his hair, “W oah… I’m like Rapunzel.” 

Tyler looked around, opening the dormitory window and hooking his hair to the ceiling, getting a running start and trying to swing out of the window by his hair only to fall to the floor, “Ow!” he whined, rubbing his back and hoisting himself up, “Well… if at first you don’t succeed.” 

In the culinary club work studio, Owen was eagerly working on a batch of croissants, rolling his pastry dough on the counter while Noah sat on top of a different counter, legs folded as he worked on filling his art club sketchbook. 

“What’re you drawing?” Owen asked, resisting the urge to lick his fingers as the floury powder itched on his hands, his blonde hair pinned up in a tiny ponytail to keep it out of the way. 

Noah glanced down at his sketchbook, looking at a collection of pictures of Owen- with a few scattered in drawings of random still lifes of the culinary club studio- “Nothing… just scribbling, really,” he muttered, his cheeks heating up as he turned the page, drawing a picture of Owen in a suit. 

Owen slid his croissants in the oven and dusted off his hands, “I kinda wanna make soft pretzels now, while those are in the oven… can I see the picture?” he asked, his jade eyes shimmering under the lighting in the studio. 

Noah nodded, feeling Owen’s warmth as the blonde approached, looking at the sketchbook, “It’s not very good, I’m still learning some stuff,”he said nervously. 

“W ow, this is so cute! You’re a really good artist, Noah,” Owen said, resting a slow kiss on Noah’s neck, “You want pretzels?” 

Noah snapped to attention from his kiss-induced daze and pondered for a moment, nodding as he started a new drawing, drawing a page full of pretzels as he leaned back on the counter, watching Owen pull out a bag of flour and lick his lips, “Don’t eat the flour, Chubby Buddy,” he laughed. 

Owen bit his lip, “But it’s so tasty,” he complained, sneakily licking flour off of his fingers anyways, “I can’t help it.” 

Noah rolled his eyes, flipping another sketchbook page and watching Sasha in the corner- off-duty and playing with a tug rope near the wall. 

Across the way from the culinary club studio, Harold, Leshawna, and B were in the metal shop, each working on their own contraptions- well, Leshawna was making earrings. 

“Hey Leshawna, how big do you think the space in my gauntlet should be for the power center?” Harold asked, pushing his glasses further up on his face. 

Leshawna leaned over, looking at the metal glove and pursing her lips, “Hmmm… try about a centimeter deep, Sugar,” she said, going back to her earrings. 

Harold slowly worked with the equipment, molding the space for the power center of his gauntlets only to shake his head rapidly, “My hair feels like it’s more in the way than usual,” he complained. 

Leshawna peeked at Harold, eyeing his hair, “It does look longer… here,” she said, pulling a clip out of her hair and pinning Harold’s locks back into a ponytail, “There we go!” 

Harold grinned, “Thanks, that feels so much better,” he sighed, turning over to B, who was working with a big metal rectangle and looking intrigued, “How’s it going, B?”

B pondered, clapping and typing on his phone so the voice app could speak for him, “ _ I’m almost done, all I need is the circuit board _ ” the app said as B got back to work. 

“That’s gonna be nice, B, you’re doing a good job!” Harold complimented, giving B a thumbs-up and going back to work on his gauntlets, taking a quick glance outside the window at the courtyard until a hockey puck flew through the small opening in the metal shop window, “Gosh!” 

Out on the ice rink beyond the courtyard, the hockey team- save for Tyler- was currently running plays for a big game in a couple of weeks, and they had lost several pucks so far. 

“Jacques! Get your head in the game, my man!” Geoff scoffed, tossing his stick to Lorenzo and skating across the rink, resting his hands on Jacques’ shoulders. 

Jacques became flustered when staring into Geoff’s eyes and he nodded eagerly, “I apologize, I will try harder next time,” he said, “This is just so ha rd, it’s different from figure skating.” 

“Then why’d you join the team!?” Lorenzo asked, folding his arms. 

“Like it matters, there’s no other private schools in our district we can play, we only go against the 9th years, eh,” Ezekiel complained, tugging at his jersey and spinning his stick, “It’s still snowin’!”

“Yes, Zeke, we know it’s still snowing,” DJ replied, skating in a circle and jumping on the ice. 

Footsteps in the snow made all the boys hurry and stand at attention, peeking at the walkway to the ice rink just in case it was Dr. Oswald coming, and the boys all relaxed when they saw that it was only Nurse Macintosh. 

“Hi boys!” the nurse greeted with a kind wave and a soft smile, the boys greeting him in return and standing nervously about, “So, I need you guys to come with me. We’re doing winter physicals since you guys can’t actually go to your normal doctors.” 

“Oh okay,” Geoff said, hurrying off of the rink and changing into his boots, the hockey players heading back to the main school building with their hockey equipment. 

Twenty minutes later, the hockey team was lined up outside of the nurse’s office, DJ having gone first due to his position in the alphabetical order. 

Lorenzo leaned back in his seat, “Wasn’t Tyler supposed to play with us?” he asked, scratching the side of his head in confusion. 

“I think he’s still in bed, poor guy,” Geoff sighed wistfully, putting his arms behind his head. 

**_BOOM!_ **

“What the hell was that?!” Jacques asked, raising an eyebrow as he peered around the corridor. 

“Duncan,” Geoff and Ezekiel sighed, rolling their eyes as the sound of running water could be heard, “Wonder what he managed to do this time.” 

“Knowing him, he blew up another toilet,” Geoff grumbled, looking uninterested as he folded his legs until water rushed around the corridor and slowly began to pool up on the floor in a stream, “Okay, maybe more than another toilet.” 

DJ walked out of the infirmary with a soft smile on his face until he stepped in the water, “I… what’s goin’ on out here?” he asked before regaining his focus, “Your turn, Geoff.” 

In a command room near the custodial center- a really fancy pretentious way to say ‘janitor’s closet’- Duncan, Izzy, and Eva were looking at their handiwork, having dropped several explosives into the plumbing system and watching them explode in random locations as water began to flood the building. 

“We should leave before someone sees us,” Izzy whispered, giggling and grabbing Duncan and Eva by their waistbands, getting a running start and launching all three of them out of the command room’s window onto the snow-covered roof before rolling down into the courtyard. 

“That was so much fun!” Eva laughed, clapping eagerly as they headed around to the other side of the school, “I heard that Bridgette and some 9th grade pipsqueak are playing volleyball, let’s go join in so we have an alibi.” 

“Sounds like a plan!” Izzy cheered, giving Eva a quick kiss and jumping back up to the roof, swinging into a gymnasium window- not seeming to mind the broken glass. 

In the culinary club studio, Noah and Owen were feeding each other croissants, having just finished making out- making out so hard, in fact, that the glaze for Owen’s croissants almost burned- and enjoying their alone time. 

“Nothing could ruin this moment,” Noah sighed, his eyes crossing as Owen kissed his neck, slowly biting off bits of flaky glaze and pastry crumbs, “Absolutely nothing.” 

The door to the culinary studio opened and Nurse Macintosh sighed through his teeth, “Hate to ruin the moment, boys, but I need Noah in the infirmary for his physical,” he said, rocking back and forth on his heels and beckoning for Noah to follow him. 

“See you in our dorm, Cupcake,” Noah said, smiling as he nervously followed the nurse down to the infirmary, heading downstairs only to see the still-in-progress flooding, “What’s with all the water?” 

“Some stuff exploded, I don’t really know, it’s none of my business,” Nurse Macintosh admitted, shrugging as he opened the door to the infirmary, letting Noah inside and sighing as Noah got settled and examined the wet bottom legs of his pants.

“Okay, your turn, Buddy,” Nurse Macintosh said, gesturing to the scale next to the wall and glancing back at Noah, realizing that the 16-year-old was obviously nervous, “It’s okay, nobody will know about this, I swear.” 

Noah nodded, standing on the scale and looking up to avoid having to see the numbers. 

“125, that’s 5 pounds heavier than when you got here, that’s good!” Nurse Macintosh cheered, clapping before hearing a clicking sound and blinking at Noah, “Noah… what’s in your pockets?” 

Noah bit his lip, looking away, “Nothing,” he laughed, scratching the back of his neck. 

“Empty your pockets, Noah,” Nurse Macintosh instructed, watching as four large stones and a small pile of rocks were dumped onto the floor next to the scale, “ **Rocks** ? Come on, Buddy, you’re smarter than that. ” 

Noah flushed, looking at the scale and muttering, “I was nervous,” before letting the nurse look at the numbers again. 

“106, that’s 14 pounds lower… how did that happen?” Nurse Macintosh asked, putting the rocks on the counter and dusting off his hands. 

Noah’s mind flashed through two months of him half-finishing meals and giving unwanted or inedible food to Owen, “I don’t know,” he lied, rocking back and forth on his heels, shrugging, “I’m just not hungry.” 

“Well, try to be a little hungrier,” Nurse Macintosh replied, typing on his computer, “It’s alright, Bud, we’re gonna be okay.” 

Noah flushed, embarrassed, “Can I leave?” he asked, shaking a little as tears pooled in his eyes, “Please?” 

Sasha stood up from her resting position near Noah, nudging his leg and tugging at his pants legs, huffing and pacing around before giving as good of a death glare as a dog could give. 

Nurse Macintosh nodded, “Of course, Noah, we can finish your physical later,” he said, watching Noah leave and looking at his clipboard to see who was next. 

Upstairs, in the movie theater-esque media center of the main school building, Gwen and Courtney were watching a movie together, silently eating popcorn as it played until Cody, Ezekiel, and Harold walked in, crossing over to the other side to play video games. 

“I’m bored,” Gwen yawned, stretching out and turning the screen off, heading to the wall to turn on the lights, “Wanna go up to the gym and play volleyball?”

“Y ay!” Courtney cheered, hopping up from her seat and hurrying upstairs to the gymnasium, Gwen slowly walking after her as they approached the gymnasium door, peeking in to see Bridgette and Zoey tossing the ball around, accompanied by Duncan, Izzy, and Eva, “Didn’t expect to see the delinquent scum here.” 

“Mind your own business and pick a team,” Duncan huffed, bumping the ball over the net and giggling when Zoey spiked the ball at his face, “Good hit!” 

“You guys aren’t even following the rules! You don’t have enough players for separate teams! This is so unorthodox and it’s driving me crazy!” Courtney grumbled, folding her arms as she and Gwen joined Zoey on her side. 

“Can you take the stick outta your ass for one Saturday, Court?” Duncan huffed in reply, serving the ball over the net and cracking his knuckles. 

“That was an illegal serve, your foot went over the court line!” Courtney called out, staring at the line on the court pressed against Duncan’s sneaker. 

“Guys, we’re just trying to have fun,” Bridgette sighed, tugging at her hair in frustration, looking at Gwen and mouthing ‘Do something’. 

“If we have fun we are going to do it the right way!” Courtney argued, throwing the ball back at Duncan, “Isn’t your hair usually in a ponytail?!” 

Bridgette twirled her loose locks on her fingers, blushing with embarrassment, “I just thought it looked nice… I gave Geoff my hair tie,” she muttered nervously, “Do you like it?”

“I think it looks beautiful, but it does look like it’s getting in your way a little,” Gwen said, twirling her now shoulder-length locks alongside Bridgette, “I could use a cut myself.” 

“When you two are done playing fucking beauty school can we get back to playing?” Duncan scoffed, serving the ball over only to growl at Courtney’s cry of another illegal serve. 

“You could do with something done to your hair too, Duncan, considering how much it’s grown,” Bridgette said, pawing away a strand of hair from her eyes as she watched Duncan examine his head with his fingers. 

“Oh my god, when did this happen?!” Duncan asked. 

“Over time, you dunce,” Courtney muttered, throwing the ball at Duncan once more, “Serve it right or I’ll take your place.” 

“I’m sick of you acting like you can just interrupt other people’s fun and try to call all the shots, Miss Priss,” Duncan scoffed, bouncing the volleyball on the court before serving it again, Gwen and Izzy bumping it back and forth as Eva watched Izzy wistfully with deep intrigue in her dark eyes.

“I am not calling all of the shots, I am calling the illegal ones, Bub!” Courtney hissed, stomping her feet, “You’re like this all the time, oh, if we were in the dining hall you’d have a hot date with a metal tray you pissant.” 

“Oh so suddenly we’re back to hitting me in the head with trays?” Duncan asked, “Try something impressive for once.” 

“You first!” 

“No, you first!” Duncan argued. 

“Would you both SHUT UP?!” Zoey snapped amid Courtney and Duncan’s incessant chatter. 

“ **_A-HEM_ ** !” 

The group all turned, standing up straight and still in complete silence as Dr. Oswald stood in the doorway to the gymnasium, holding a stick and smacking the palm of her hand with it. The only student who was as jovial as previous was Izzy, who was now giggling and rocking back and forth on her heels. 

“Good Afternoon, Dr. Oswald,” the group stated in bland unison- save for Izzy, who simply gave an erratic wave and laughed out a quick “Hiya Ozzy!”.

The much taller woman walked across the gymnasium floor and stood in front of the students, still smacking the palm of her hand, “Mr. Wilson, Miss O’Connor… Miss Girard, it is a wonderful pleasure to see you here,” she said with a knowing smile. 

“It ain’t a wonderful pleasure to see you here, I’ll tell you that for free,” Duncan scoffed, blinking as the dean slammed the stick against her palm with a loud thwacking noise, “Point taken.” 

“Accompany me to my office…  **Now** ,” Dr. Oswald instructed, directing Duncan, Izzy, and Eva out of the gymnasium and turning to the rest of the group, “Disperse yourselves, the gymnasium is closed for the rest of the day.” 

“Yes, Dr. Oswald,” Gwen, Zoey, Bridgette, and Courtney replied with arched backs and flattened shoulders, hurrying out of the gym as the dean left. 

“What do you think they did?” Bridgette whispered. 

“Something stupid, no doubt,” Courtney replied, closing the gymnasium doors behind them and walking to the dormitory building, “You think she’ll hit them with that stick?” 

“I doubt it,” Gwen replied, dusting off the skirt of her dress, “Can we go do something else?” 

“I would like to go in the dance studio, but I’m sure  _ someone _ is already in there, probably with  _ Heather _ , practicing without me,” Courtney grumbled. 

“What’s she talking about?” Zoey asked, nervous. 

“Scott,” Gwen chuckled, “Let’s go see, I wanna watch you dance while Bridge and I talk about our hair.” 

Courtney smiled eagerly, heading down the hall to a room near the culinary club studio and seeing Alejandro seated outside, “Oh goddamnit,” she complained, glaring at him. 

Alejandro wrinkled his nose, rolling his eyes as he did his math homework on his lap, “What seems to be the problem, Courtney?” he asked, raising an eyebrow. 

“Oh go shove an empanada up your ass,” Courtney hissed, throwing open the dance studio’s door and folding her arms, seeing Heather in her tutu and seething with rage, “I hate you guys!” 

“You’re still doing the chaine leaps wrong, how are we supposed to work as a team if you’re so far behind?!” Scott asked, far too preoccupied with talking to Heather and wiping sweat off of his brow to listen to Courtney. 

“You are leagues better than me at chaine leaps, I asked you to mark the positioning for me and you said marking is for 10 year olds!” Heather argued, poking Scott in the chest. 

“I have my leotard, can I practice with you guys?” Courtney huffed, unamused as she watched the two go back and forth. 

“You asked to learn, I taught, you failed. Now we repeat, it’s that simple, if you want to ever do a chaine leap instead of dysfunctional half-peewees, we try again,” Scott argued. 

“Guys!” Courtney yelled, stomping her foot as Scott and Heather turned to face her. 

“Oh look who it is, somebody decided she was done with her movie date and wanted to join us,” Scott laughed, folding his arms, “Put your leotard on and hurry up, maybe I’ll be able to see someone else do a half-decent chaine leap today.” 

Courtney stuck out her tongue at Heather, blowing a raspberry and hurrying into the side room to get changed. 

“Stuck up bitch,” Heather grumbled. 

“You’re one to talk… first position, not third,” Scott corrected, gently kicking one of Heather’s feet, “Is Alehand-draw still outside?” 

“Probably,” Heather sighed, stretching her back and tugging at her ponytail, “He was in the art studio working on a painting, he’s probably drawing something out in the corridor.” 

“I’m readyyyy!” Courtney cheered, skipping out to the dance floor in front of the wall mirror, stretching her legs and peeking out the door as Gwen and Bridgette walked in, “Where’s Zoey?” 

Scott smirked, bending forward into a penché, “She knows she’s not allowed in here,” he laughed, “Brunette poser- Heather, I said first position!” 

“I’m busy, you’re such a control freak,” Heather groaned, rearranging her feet, “Let’s go over the chaine leaps again, or are you not finished with your penché parade? You wanna go turn some a la secondes in the corner, you show off?” 

“I’ll be a show-off, now let’s try them again,” Scott smiled, cracking his knuckles as he demonstrated a chaine leap for Courtney and Heather, with Gwen and Bridgette whispering to themselves in the corner of the dance studio as time slowly ticked by and snow continued to fall outside. 

Downstairs, about an hour later, Dave was walking by himself through the hallways, trying to find someone to hang out with, only to bump into Scarlett as he turned a corridor, “Hi Scar-Mmph!” he cheered only to be silenced by Scarlett’s hand over his mouth. 

“Shhhh,” Scarlett whispered, putting a finger over her mouth and tilting her head to the side, showing Dr. Oswald standing near a rickety wooden door. 

Dave gulped, turning to see Max next to Scarlett, “What were you guys doing before I showed up?” he whispered. 

“Silence, David,” Max hissed, slapping a piece of duct tape over Dave’s mouth and peering over at the door, reaching over to hold Scarlett’s hand, “This is far more fun than experimenting with nitroglycerine in the chemistry lab, isn’t it?” 

Scarlett silently nodded, running manicured hands over Max’s chubby fingers with a soft smile. 

Dr. Oswald swung the door open, walking down a cobblestone staircase and vanishing from sight for a moment. 

“What do you think is down there?” Max whispered. 

“Records, wine maybe,” Scarlett whispered, clasping her hands together. 

**_THWACK!_ **

Scarlett took off her glasses, cleaning them with a microfiber cloth and putting them back on, “Someone just got flogged… either that or she’s swordfighting down there,” she whispered, biting her lip as Dr. Oswald came back upstairs with an expressionless look on her face, dragging Izzy behind her by the ginger’s ankles. 

“Isn’t that your cousin?” Max whispered, raising an eyebrow. 

“Indeed it is… she appears inebriated… interesting, I presume that means there is wine down there,” Scarlett whispered back, ducking behind the corridor when Oswald turned in their direction. 

“The three of you are to go into the dining hall and wait the thirty-five minutes until dinner, you may begin work on your thirty-thousand words each on the history of plumbing, have I made myself clear?” Dr. Oswald said coldly, yanking Izzy onto her feet by the back of the ginger’s dress. 

“Yes Ma’am,” Duncan laughed, massaging his rouged cheeks and spinning down the hallway to the dining hall as Eva carried Izzy behind him. 

Scarlett grasped Max’s hand and ran down the hall, Dave rushing after them before Dr. Oswald could see that she’d been spied on. 

“What would you like to do now?” Scarlett asked Max, toying with his hair while she looked out a large window at the snow in the courtyard. 

“I need to go up to the dormitory building to get my blueprints book,” Max yawned, cracking his knuckles, “I also need to take my binder off.” 

“How long have you been wearing it?” Scarlett whispered, raising an eyebrow and folding her arms. 

“Only three hours, but I never like to wear it while I eat, it gets messy,” Max replied, “Relax.” 

Dave made a noise and the duo turned to stare at him, both looking vaguely uncomfortable that he was still there. 

“Would you like to accompany us, David?” Scarlett asked with a cold stare, blinking as though trying to hypnotize him into saying no. 

“No thanks, I’m gonna go… find Ella,” Dave muttered, running down the hall in the opposite direction, only to bump into Ella, who was skipping down the hall humming to herself, “Perfect timing.” 

“Oh hello, David! Would you like to come outside of the dining hall and feed the little birdies with me?” Ella asked, clasping her hands behind her back. 

“S-sure, but there aren’t any birds, Ella, it’s snowing outside,” Dave argued, walking behind Ella and blushing upon taking a look at the frilled socks over her ankles, “Nice socks.” 

“Oh, you like them?” Ella asked, grinning as she gently moved Dave’s tuft of hair away from his face, “Thank you.” 

**_DING-DONG!_ **

“Okay, time for dinner, let’s go!” Dave yelped, grabbing Ella’s wrist and racing to the dining hall. 

In the dining hall, Duncan was waiting patiently, slowly coming off of his wine-induced happiness and picking at his soup in silence, his face no longer the noticeable pink it was when he drunkenly twirled out of the catacombs. 

“ _ A-tchoo! _ ” 

Duncan turned to see Tyler, who slowly ambled to his seat at the table, accompanied by Lindsay, who was showing him photos of hairstyles as he tried to eat, “Well well well, if it isn’t Sleeping Bozo,” he laughed, spinning his spoon in his free hand, “How’re you feeling?” 

“Sick,” Tyler grumbled, leaning against the table and staring at his hot cocoa with vague disdain, “My hair’s like a bajillion feet long now.” 

Duncan peeked under the table, “Woah, what the fuck?! What’s with the Rapunzel hair?!” he snapped, blinking and staring at the mass of length, “How long has it been like that?!” 

“I dunno,” Tyler replied, “I do like it, though… I feel gross because I haven’t been able to wash it or anything.” 

“Hi Tyler!” Owen greeted, waving as he sat down. 

“What the hell happened to your hair?” Noah asked, whistling for Sasha to heel and sitting at the table, hearing his stomach growl loudly. 

“I dunno… it grew some more I guess,” Tyler croaked, finishing his soup and moving onto his cocoa. 

“You  **guess** ?! Tyler it’s longer than you are,” Noah replied. 

Duncan bit his lip trying his hardest not to laugh. 

“Something funny from Dunc and his green apple hair?” Noah asked, raising an eyebrow, “Anything you wanna share with the class?” 

Duncan chuckled, “Nope, nothing,” he answered, “Why aren’t you eating?” 

“Lobster,” Noah grumbled angrily, coughing into his arm before silently drinking his tea, “Speaking of hair, you know, I could do something with yours.” 

“If you wanna play beauty parlor after dinner, be my guest,” Duncan huffed, looking up into the rafters to see Izzy’s fluffy hair, “How’s it going up there? Still tipsy?” 

Izzy jumped down from the rafters, shaking her head and massaging her temples, “Izzy feels gross,” she muttered, walking over to Eva’s table. 

“Tipsy? Wait, what happened?” Alejandro asked, raising an eyebrow as he drank his tea. 

“We burst a few pipes so Oswald locked us in the catacombs with about twenty thousand barrels of dusty old wine,” Duncan laughed, “We helped ourselves.” 

**_DING-DONG!_ **

“We can unpack the rest of that horseshit while I’m doing your hair, come on,” Noah sighed, jumping into Owen’s lap and wrinkling his nose as he pressed his face against Owen’s chest, “I can’t smell your fabric softener anymore.” 

Owen pouted, sniffing one of his sleeves and shrugging, “I can smell the lavender just fine… I’ll try washing it with more of the stuff next time,” he replied, stroking Noah’s hair as Sasha followed alongside them. 

In the hallway of the boys’ dormitory level, Noah sat on the bay window in his pajamas with Tyler’s head against his legs, gently moisturizing every last inch of the long locks and brushing it until it was thick, flowing, and glossy, sparkling under the lights. 

“W o w! I didn’t know you were so good at doing hair, Noah!” Lindsay cheered, clapping as she showed Tyler his hair in a mirror. 

“Thanks, I’ve been doing my sisters’ hair since I was ten,” Noah laughed, pausing to cough into his arm again, taking a slow breath and resting a hand on his chest. 

Owen turned to look at Noah- now distracted from looking at his freshly cut hair in a different mirror after Noah clipped his split ends- with a concerned glance, “Do you need your inhaler?” he asked. 

Noah shook his head, looking at Sasha who was attentively sitting next to him, “I can breathe just fine,” he replied, shaking a spray bottle. 

“Don’t put any more of that spray stuff in my hair, please, it already smells like an apple, I don’t need it to smell like an orchard full of them,” Tyler laughed, getting up and blowing his nose, “Your turn, Duncan.” 

Noah stared at the bottle, and then at Owen, “Did I use this on him already?” he asked. 

Owen nodded silently, still looking at his hair and making faces in the mirror, “I don’t think my hair has ever looked this nice,” he sighed to himself. 

“Oh you shush, your hair looks nice all the time,” Noah replied, playfully shoving Owen before beckoning Duncan over, putting the punk’s head against his legs and whipping out a bottle of leave-in conditioner, “I’m still not sure why I can’t smell anything.” 

“You can’t smell anything either? I thought I was going nuts,” Gwen chuckled, slightly preoccupied with chopping off Bridgette’s long ponytail and going in with smaller hair scissors and a comb to snip the uneven ends until the freckled blonde had a nice shoulder-length bob cut. 

Noah nodded, massaging the conditioner through Duncan’s hair and rubbing it with a towel before brushing it and spritzing it with sheen spray, “Hmm… hold on,” he muttered to Duncan, taking scissors and snipping off a small portion of the fuzz on the back of Duncan’s neck, “There, perfect.” 

Duncan looked at himself in the mirror, gasping and smirking, “Thanks, Noah, this is pretty awesome,” he said casually before rubbing the back of his neck, “So uhm… how much for thirty-thousand words?” 

Noah coughed into his arm again, holding up a finger signaling for Duncan to wait until he finished, taking a slow breath and replying in a slightly hoarse voice, “Five thousand dollars.” 

Duncan nodded, handing Noah a thick wad of bills, “You sure you’re doin’ okay?” he asked. 

Noah sniffled, rubbing his eyes, “Not really, I think I caught a cold,” he muttered to himself before turning to glare at Tyler, “ **You!** ” 

Tyler blushed out of embarrassment, “Please don’t kill me,” he whimpered, biting his lip as he dashed down the hallway. 

Noah speed-walked down the hall after Tyler with Sasha in tow, croaking out, “You better be lucky I can’t run you ass!”

Owen hurried after them, taking Noah’s hair supplies with him as his slippers thumped against the carpeted hallway flooring. 

“Welp, now we know,” Gwen laughed, turning and handing Bridgette a battery-operated razor, tying a bit of her excess hair up into a bun, “Shave the rest, I want an undercut.” 

Bridgette gasped, grinning as she clicked the buzzer on, “This is gonna look awesome.” 


	13. Ninth Year Nonsense

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Click!
> 
> “Good Morning esteemed pupils, all classes for the 9th and 10th grade have been suspended for reasons that I personally could care less about, have a magnificent day!”
> 
> Noah folded his arms, listening to Dr. Oswald’s voice on the PA system and weakly changing back into his pajamas, climbing back into his bed and flopping against his pillow, “Well, that was a waste of energy,” he grumbled to himself. 

It was Monday morning, the sun peeked through the clouds and beamed into students’ windows as they slowly got ready for class, even with one near-insurmountable obstacle standing in their way. 

“ _A-tchoo!_ ” 

Noah sniffled and tugged on his pants, blindly pawing around in his dresser for his sweater, glaring across the room at Tyler and Alejandro’s bunk, “You are a piece of shit,” he grumbled. 

Tyler- who looked somewhat better and was pulling on his cargo pants- flushed, darting around nervously, “You’re still mad? I didn’t exactly do it on purpose!” he complained. 

Alejandro climbed down from his top bunk, slothfully tossing a used tissue at Tyler’s head, “You may not have gotten the entirety of the 10th grade sick on purpose, but you still managed to do that… so we have a right to be angry with you, Tyler,” he snarled, “Where’s my scrunchie?” 

“Probably under my darling boyfriend’s butt,” Noah croaked, gently shaking Owen, who was snoring like a broken lawnmower, “Wake up, Honeybun, we have class today- _A-tchoo!_ ” 

Owen rolled onto his stomach and sat up, rubbing his eyes and giving a deep sniffle, “Mmm… I don’t wanna go to class,” he complained, “I feel like someone stuck a piping bag full of perfectly-emulsed custard into my nose and squeezed it.” 

“That is a beautiful yet disgusting analogy, Owen,” Alejandro scoffed, grabbing his scrunchie off of Owen’s bunk.

“Thanks,” Owen yawned, stretching as he got out of bed, “Wonder what’s for breakfast…”

“Leave it to you to have an appetite right now,” Noah croaked, brushing his hair, “Alright, let’s go, the last thing I wanna do is be late.” 

**_Click!_ **

“ **_Good Morning esteemed pupils, all classes for the 9th and 10th grade have been suspended for reasons that I personally could care less about, have a magnificent day!”_ **

Noah folded his arms, listening to Dr. Oswald’s voice on the PA system and weakly changing back into his pajamas, climbing back into his bed and flopping against his pillow, “Well, that was a waste of energy,” he grumbled to himself. 

Tyler folded his clothes and put them at the foot of his bed, sitting up and working on homework while Alejandro scaled the ladder to his bunk and stared out of their dormitory’s window. 

“I’m glad we get some time to rest,” Tyler yawned, blowing his nose and rolling onto his side, “I hope Lindsay’s doing alright.” 

“Oh I’m sure Lindsay’s doing fine,” Noah huffed, coughing roughly into his arm, taking a deep, wheezing breath and grabbing a book from underneath his pillow, “I hate you, Tyler.” 

“It’s not even that bad, it’s just a cold,” Tyler scoffed, sticking his tongue out at Noah with his arms folded. 

Noah snarled, gesturing to the small box at the foot of his bed linked to a tube that was hooked around his ears connected to his nose, “Tyler,” he croaked, “I am on **oxygen**.” 

Owen sat up from snuggling with his bear to stare at Tyler and crack his knuckles with a grimace on his face, a raw, exhausted look that said ‘shut up or I will rearrange your bones’.

“It’s not that bad, right Al?” Tyler asked with a nervous smile. 

Alejandro blinked, staring at Tyler and waiting for his mind to register, sweat soaking the neckline of his caterpillar onesie, “Al _ejandro_ … who said that?” he asked, scratching the side of his head, his eyes still darting around in glazed-over confusion. 

“Haha, very funny, Alejandro,” Tyler laughed, grinning and winking at Alejandro as though to say he was in on the joke. 

Alejandro giggled, “No, it’s okay Heather, I promise I won’t tell anyone, I swear nobody’s watching,” he mumbled to himself, lying down on his back with a dopey smile on his face as he kissed the air. 

“He’s lost it,” Noah chuckled, giving a dry swallow and wincing, “I’m going to go make some tea, are you coming, Owen?” 

Owen nodded, getting up and hoisting Noah into his arms, “C’mon, let’s hurry to the dining hall,” he beckoned, kissing Noah’s cheek and heading out of the dorm as Sasha followed alongside them. 

“How come the 9th years don’t have class? Are they sick?” Tyler asked, pausing to realize who he was currently talking to. 

“No, Heather, I don’t know who’s outside the janitor’s closet, don’t worry about him,” Alejandro babbled, laughing to himself as he rolled over and began to kiss his pillow as Tyler rolled his eyes. 

Down the hall, in dormitory B5, four 9th year boys- Scott, Sam, Shawn, and Dave- were discussing their plans amid the cancellation of classes. 

“I’m going to the media center to play video games, you coming, Shawn?” Sam yawned, stretching out as he pulled out his handheld console. 

“No thanks, I’m gonna go to the gym and practice for volleyball,” Shawn replied, tugging on his hat and looking around for his sneakers, “How ‘bout you, Scott? Gonna go blow up another toilet or somethin’?” 

Scott shook his head, combing his thick, fluffy hair, “I’m gonna go practice in the dance studio for a while and then I might come back here for a nap,” he announced, tugging on his leotard and stretching out his legs, he turned to face Dave, “Where are you off to, Nerdling?” 

Dave blinked, saying nothing as he chewed on his ring finger, fumbling around near his bed to find a book. 

“He doesn’t wanna talk about it,” Shawn added, grabbing a stick of gum and chewing it slowly, “Don’t worry about it, David, you can go if we’re stressing you out.” 

Dave adjusted his glasses, grabbing a book and darting out of the dorm, heading down the hall only to ram into a larger figure, looking up and staring at Owen’s stomach, “H-hi Owen!” he squeaked, crawling back on his hands. 

Owen leaned forward so he could see Dave, waving, “Hii!” he croaked out, rubbing his eye with one hand, “Sorry I got in your way, we’re just going downstairs to get some tea.” 

Dave nodded, breathing calmly and backing up to see that Noah was in Owen’s arms, giving another curt wave, “Hi Noah!” he greeted nervously, biting his lip and holding his hand out for a high-five, Noah weakly obliging. 

They stood in sustained silence for a couple of moments until Noah cleared his throat and asked, “So… are you gonna move or what?”

Dave jumped, scrambling around them and heading downstairs, nervously chewing on his fingers before pausing in the stairwell to catch his breath, “That was nerve-wracking… now, to find a quiet place to study,” he sighed, hurrying down the stairs. 

“Good Morning, David,” two voices echoed from the stairwell above Dave, making him jump again, only to reveal that it was Scarlett and Max, both dressed in swimwear and giggling to one another. 

“AH! I mean, Hi! Why are you guys going swimming?” Dave asked, rocking back and forth on his heels as he waited for an answer, only for Scarlett and Max to inconclusively shrug at him, “Wonderful, gotta go, bye!” 

“He is a peculiar individual,” Scarlett muttered, gently running her fingers through Max’s hair. 

“Peculiar is a polite way to put it, Darling,” Max scoffed, sticking out his tongue as Dave scrambled away from them, his cheeks flushing upon realizing what he’d said. 

“A w ww, ‘Darling’ is a new one, usually I’m ‘Pumpkin’,” Scarlett said confidently, strutting down the steps in her bathing suit as Max wobbled after her, “If you are staring at my rear end there will be consequences, Maximus.” 

Max averted his eyes, staring at the stairwell ceiling’s intricate stained glass pattern, “I promise I am not staring at your rear end,” he said, whistling innocently as he darted his eyes down to steal a glance at the gummy bears printed all over Scarlett’s bathing suit. 

In the main school building, Dave snuck around, in desperate search of the library, when he passed the dance studio and froze, hearing classical music and peeking through the door. 

“Good job Ella, bring your hip down before you jump so you don’t oversplit,” Scott praised, giving a small clap before falling silent. 

“Thank you, Scott!” Ella giggled, “Oh my! I do believe we’re being watched by a _handsome prince_.” 

Dave felt his heart race and he slowly began to chew on his fingers, waving at Ella and freezing in place. Scott walked up to the door with his arms folded, staring at Dave as though piercing through directly into his soul. 

“If you aren’t here to play the piano, we don’t do spectators, get lost, David,” Scott muttered, “Do you need help finding something?- Ella, turn your knee out.” 

“N-no, I’m good,” Dave replied, scattering and hurrying to the large mahogany double doors of the school’s library, still struggling to hold his book as he hurried inside, hearing nothing but vague quiet, “Huh… where’s the librarian?” 

“I don’t know,” Cameron yawned from his seat on a sofa, a stack of books at his feet and a cup of tea on the side table, “Hi, David.” 

“Hi! Call me Dave, Cameron, please,” Dave chuckled, sitting on an adjacent sofa and opening his large book, “It’s nice to not have the 10th years intimidating us for once.” 

“I suppose the quiet is nice, though it’s a shame they’re all sick,” Cameron sighed, flipping through pages nonchalantly before checking to make sure his wheelchair was next to the sofa still.

Dave blinked, “All of them?” he asked, raising an eyebrow as he stared down at his hands. 

“Uhm… except for the girl with the purple hair… Sierra, otherwise yeah,” Cameron replied, “Why?” 

Dave squealed, gagging as he nervously chewed on his fingers before squealing again, “I’ll be back later, Cameron, don’t let anyone steal my book!” he exclaimed, running out of the library. 

“It’s got your name on the inside, but sure, Dave,” Cameron called back, rolling his eyes and finishing his book, swapping it out for a different one and wincing as he moved to grab the new book, looking up, “He’s a total spaz, right?” 

Izzy giggled, dangling from the library’s ceiling, “Spaz is a mean word, but yeah… read to me about macroeconomics again,” she croaked, clapping her hands and jumping to the library floor, sitting on the back of the sofa like a cat. 

“Alrighty,” Cameron yawned, opening up the book and flipping to a random chapter, “But you’ve gotta leave when Dave comes back.” 

“No problem!” Izzy laughed, blowing her nose and poking Cameron in the back of the head, “C’monnn, I wanna look at Keynesian economic graphs while people talk about capitalism.” 

Downstairs, Dave scrambled until he ran into what he could only assume was a squishy wall… that is until he looked up and saw B. 

‘ _Hi D-A-V-E… what are you doing?_ ’ 

Dawn- who was draped across B’s shoulders as they returned from the metal shop upstairs- gave a soft smile and explained, “B says hello, Dave, and he wants to know what you’re doing.” 

Dave gulped, “No time, gotta go, if you still wanna borrow that book on robotics, talk to me later B, bye!” he rambled, running toward the nurse’s office and rapping anxiously on the door. 

Dawn raised a curious eyebrow, “What do you think his problem is?” she asked. 

‘ _Germs_ ,’

“A hhh, excellent observation, B!” Dawn cheered, patting B on the head, “Would you like to go into the media center and watch a nature documentary together?” 

B nodded eagerly with a big grin on his face, clapping as he signed ‘ _Let’s go! Let’s go!_ ’

The duo went upstairs to the media center, slowly sliding the door open and realizing that it was empty. B gently lowered Dawn into a seat and wandered over near the screen to search for Dawn’s collection of animal documentary DVDs, sliding one in and hurrying to a seat next to Dawn, eagerly clapping. 

“This is nice, B,” Dawn yawned, leaning over and giving B a kiss on the cheek, making the mute’s face flush deeply as he flapped his hands, making Dawn giggle as she rested a hand on his thigh, giving it a gentle squeeze before the documentary turned on. She pondered for a moment, and turned to face B again, “Have you seen Shawn anywhere lately?” she asked in a low whisper. 

B shrugged, pausing and counting to three on his fingers. 

“A A A A A H HHH! **ZOMBIE**!” 

‘ _Found him,’_ B signed, wrapping his arm around Dawn’s shoulder and kicking his feet in silence, just watching them bob back and forth while ignoring Shawn blazing past the media center. 

“Wonder what he thinks is a zombie now,” Dawn whispered, cuddling against B’s chest and sighing as she inhaled the sweet scent of his jacket. 

B shrugged again, slowly beginning to fall asleep as the soothing voice of the documentary made his eyelids droop, ‘ _Tired_ ’, he signed, rubbing the fibres of Dawn’s sweater dress and smiling. 

In the hallway, Shawn was clinging to the doorframe of a classroom’s door, scrambling to try and jump to the ceiling as Jasmine stood with her arms folded, trying to convince him to come down. 

“Shawn, there’s no zombie,” Jasmine sighed, “It was just Mr. McLean without his makeup on, c’mon wallaby, we’ve gotta go.” 

Shawn shivered, staring at Jasmine, “I don’t believe you,” he whimpered, clinging to the wall and pulling a glass bottle from his pocket, shattering it against the wall and scanning the area for zombies to stab. 

“Shawn… please,” Jasmine pleaded, opening her arms as Shawn jumped down into them, “There we are, wallaby, that’s it.” 

Shawn grumbled into Jasmine’s shoulder, jumping to the ground and dusting off his clothes, looking around the corridor, “Where to now?” he asked, his hands on his hips as he peered over the balcony at the ground level. 

“Wanna play volleyball?” Jasmine asked in response, a smile on her face. 

“No fair, without a team you always beat me,” Shawn complained, folding his arms as he sat on the railing of the balcony, keeping an iron grip on the bars and kicking his legs. 

“I do not, you’re one of the best players I know, c’mon, let’s play!” Jasmine coaxed, clasping her hands together and smiling at Shawn until he capitulated, following alongside her upstairs to the gymnasium, “Plus, Zoey’ll probably be there… and maybe Jo if she’s not dashin’ about looking for Brick.”

Speaking of which, Jo was on the ground level, prowling around looking for Brick only to run into Dave, who was being placed out of the nurse’s office. 

“Are you sure-” Dave pleaded. 

“I am sure, Dave, go have fun,” Nurse Macintosh replied, patting Dave on the head and shutting the door. 

Jo hurried up to Dave and folded her arms, “Sup, Half Pint?” she asked with a devious smile, “You’re gonna help me find Brick for Brains, got it?” 

Dave whined, rolling his eyes, “Why am I always getting roped into this stuff?” he complained, kicking the linoleum tile as Jo dragged him upstairs, “I just wanna read my book.” 

“I will take you to the library, but I need to go accompanied to ask Freckles about Brick or he’ll throw his stupid shoes at me,” Jo huffed, hoisting Dave over her shoulder and patting him on the back as they wandered near the door of the dance studio, hearing the piano music playing inside. 

**_KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!_ **

Scott swung the dance studio’s door open, folding his arms, “What could possibly be so fucking important that it’s interrupting my work on my arabesque turns?” he asked, furling his mouth into a tight frown and looking at Jo, “Are you serious?” 

“I just wanna know where he is,” Jo replied, blushing as she realized how awkward that sounded, “S-so we can spar and stuff, wrestle… y’know, friend stuff.” 

Scott blinked, “Uh-huh… Brick’s in the fashion studio with Dakota making a dress, are you happy Josephine?” he scoffed, wincing in pain when Jo stepped on his foot, “OW!” 

“Jesus tap-dancing Christ, what’s in that damn shoe, metal?!” Jo asked, hopping a little before regaining her composure. 

“It’s dense cardboard with a metal tip, it’s supposed to keep my toes aligned so I can stand on them,” Scott breathed, peeling off his pointe shoe and looking at his foot, “Ughhh! Great, now I can’t finish.” 

“Is your foot bleeding?” Dave asked, biting his pointer finger and staring at the floor, seeing a small puddle of red underneath Scott’s foot. 

“Yes, now hurry up and get where you’re going, the walk back to the dorm is gonna be a pain in the ass,” Scott complained, turning off the music and the lights in the studio and peeling off his other pointe shoe, walking down the hall and trying to avoid leaving a smear of red on the floor as he moved. 

“Is that blood?” 

Jo and Dave turned to see Brick standing in the hallway- still in his pajamas in spite of it being around noon at this point in the day- with a vague look of confusion. 

“Let’s not talk about it, how was the dress?” Jo asked, stretching out and cracking her back as she awaited a response from Brick. 

“It was great, Dakota and I had a lot of fun and we’re hoping to get Heather to wear it for us later,” Brick cheered, giving Dakota a high-five with a big smile on his face, jumping once and hearing his slippers squeak on impact. 

“You wanna go to the gym and play volleyball?” Jo asked, a soft smirk on her face as she poked Brick in the chest. 

Brick nodded in response and the two hurried off to the gymnasium. 

Hours passed, stretching into the evening, and Dave was on his way out of the library. He had finished his favourite book- one on cellular biology- and searched around for others, reading to himself once Cameron left the library to go work on something. He read for what seemed like forever, getting lost in the immersion of the flipped pages until he fell asleep. 

After falling asleep, Dave woke up to find that someone had draped a blanket over him and neatly placed his book near his feet, leaving him to get up and read more books until he got bored and decided to pursue pouring more effort into one of his larger passion projects. Walking to the chemistry lab, Dave fiddled with his book's binding, hoping silently that no one was inside and cheering upon peering past the door and seeing that the room was empty. He set to work on making one thing that he adored and found happiness in more than any other tactile activity: slime. 

In the chemistry lab, Dave silently began to gnaw on one of his fingers and grabbed a large bottle of clear glue, dumping it into a bowl and reaching for a tub of liquified borax, pouring about a cup into the glue with some food colouring, giving it a good stir while humming to himself. 

Slime was a very obscure thing, the last time he’d been taught anything even close to this was one chemistry unit in grade 5 where they worked with cornstarch. But making these thick, beautiful and stretchy slimes made Dave happy because touching them- with gloved hands of course- brought him peace. 

Stretching the first set of slime and putting it in a plastic container, Dave mixed shaving cream, clear glue, and borax solution into a different bowl, making a slime that was fluffy like a cloud before giving a dry swallow and wincing. 

“I’m thirsty,” Dave croaked, looking at his slime and taking out two of his older projects, “You guys can sit while I go make some tea,” he said to the slime- he likes to talk to them, just go along with it- before heading downstairs to the dining hall. 

Upon his leaving, Izzy leaped down from the chemistry lab’s ceiling and grabbed a big fistful of slime, “Stretchy… c o ol,” she whispered to herself, sliding the large tubs of slime near the doorway and scanning the hall for people. 

Jo and Brick walked past on their way downstairs to the dining hall to wait for dinner, and Izzy seized her opportunity, throwing her fistful at Jo and scrambling to vanish out of the chemistry lab’s window onto the roof.

Jo seethed, glaring at the people in her proximity and pulling the slime out of her hair, “Who’s the wise guy?!” she snapped, folding her arms before chucking the slime at Lightning. 

“Not you, obviously,” Lightning scoffed, grabbing some of the slime from the doorway and tossing it back at Jo. 

Brick’s mouth furled into a frown and he launched the slime back at Lightning, “Nobody hits Josephine with projectiles in that manner, got that?!” he snapped, balling his fists and stomping his feet. 

“Don’t call me Josephine!” Jo yelled, adding more slime to the tangle until it started landing on walls, railings, and the ceiling, the three 9th years tossing it back and forth while screaming at one another, it was mayhem. 

In the dining hall downstairs, Scott and Ella grabbed their dinner- the selection for the night being pizza- and sat down at a table, noticing a few vague absences at the tables. 

“I know all of the 10th years are gone, but where’d Max and Scarlett go?” Scott asked, eating his slice and gently kicking his feet- one of which was bandaged from overuse earlier in the day. 

“I suppose they’re still swimming!” Ella cheered, clapping and humming to herself, “It’s beautiful, you can submerge yourself in water and pretend you’re a mermaid.” 

Scott blinked, swallowing his bite of pizza, “Sometimes I seriously question our friendship,” he said nonchalantly, “It’s freezing out, pretending you’re a mermaid is for the bathtub and summertime.” 

“Well, the ocean isn’t always soothing and warm, now is it?” Ella asked, batting her eyes at Scott. 

“I’m pissed that you’re actually making sense,” Scott grumbled, “Where’s your boyfriend?” 

Ella blushed, “Oh… well, Scott, he isn’t exactly my boyfriend yet! David and I are just special for one another,” she sighed, fanning herself off with her hand, “Someday soon, Scott… someday soon.” 

Scott rolled his eyes, “I’d buy it, doesn’t seem like he’d be one to put the moves on you, considering he can’t go ten seconds without chewing the skin off his digits,” he laughed, imitating Dave by making wide, shimmering delicate eyes and nibbling on his fingertips, “ ‘I-I’m sorry, I’m lost, can you tell me where the library is again?!’ H A! Patetic.” 

**_SMACK!_ **

Scott snorted, rubbing a fresh slap wound from Ella’s pointe shoe, “Damn, woman!” he complained, finishing off his pizza. 

“Don’t you dare make fun of David like that again! That was very rude, Scott! He can’t help being anxious, and he doesn’t ask anyone to make reasonable accommodations for him either… and I happen to think his big eyes are very pretty!” Ella argued, folding her arms and drinking her juice, “How would you like it if I made fun of that 10th year with the unibrow you like so much?” 

Scott blushed, looking away and gnawing on his pizza crusts, “Point taken, point taken,” he muttered to himself. 

Dave walked over to their table, holding a cup of tea and no food, sitting across from the two of them and taking a slow sip, “H-hi guys,” he greeted, shivering a little as he looked up out the large windows at the snow outside. 

Scott simply gave a curt wave, hearing his stomach growl and getting up to grab more pizza, leaving Ella to eagerly wave at Dave and smile. 

“Hello, David! Have you been working on more projects?” Ella asked, twirling a strand of hair around on her finger, “I loved the fluffy pink stuff you gave me! It smells like strawberries!” 

Dave blushed, sniffling a little and finishing his tea, “I worked on a few, yes,” he giggled, “I’m excited to get back to them after dinner… well, tea.” 

“You aren’t going to eat?” Ella asked, pouting as she batted her eyes at Dave. 

“My throat feels scratchy,” Dave complained errantly, “I’m going to get some more tea, I’ll be right back.” 

Ella kicked her feet back and forth, waving and whispering to Scott, “David is such a brilliant inventor of such lovely slime… I hope one day everyone knows how lovely his projects are.” 

Dr. Oswald walked into the dining hall, watching as the chatter in the room became imminent silence, students sitting up straight as she dragged Jo in by her wrist- Brick and Lightning following behind- their clothes covered in slime. 

“O oooo! David’s pretty inventions!” Ella cheered, clapping until she realized what that meant, falling silent when Dr. Oswald glared at her. 

“Mr. McGillis,” Dr. Oswald said coldly, “I have been made aware that the mess covering the second floor hallway is your doing.” 

Dave set down his teacup, rocking back and forth on his heels as he began to gnaw on his fingers, observing the slime covering the students’ clothes, “I… I mean it’s mine, but I didn’t do anything,” he muttered. 

“What, prey tell, do you have to say for yourself?” Dr. Oswald asked, grinning as she watched Dave try to come up with an answer. 

“ _A-tchoo!_ ” 

Dr. Oswald rolled her eyes, “Six thousand words on cleanliness in my mailbox by tomorrow, are we clear, David?” she asked, rocking on her heels with her back arched as Dave wiped his nose off with a baby blue handkerchief he kept in his pocket. 

“Yes Ma’am,” Dave replied, hurrying to sit back down as Dr. Oswald left the dining hall.

“The slime was very pretty at least, David!” Ella consoled Dave, resting a hand on his shoulder, “And bless you! _Someone_ must be polite enough to say it.” 

Dave sighed, drinking his tea and smiling, “Thanks, Ella,” he responded, blowing the prominent curl at the front of his mass of hair out of his face. 

That evening, as the boys in dormitory B5 got ready for bed, Dave sat up writing his essay, his handkerchief neatly folded next to him. 

“Well, I had a fun day with Jasmine… except for when Mr. McLean walked out of his classroom with no makeup on… euch, that was horrifying,” Shawn laughed, brushing his hair and pulling it back into a loose bun, his beanie hat on the bedside table. 

“I got a lot of good practice in before my toes gave up and the side of my foot got jabbed by my pointe shoe,” Scott added, squeezing out a thick dollop of body lotion onto his palm before rubbing it into his freckled skin. 

“Dakota and I had an awesome time and I got to play video games with Harold and Cody before they went back to bed,” Sam sighed wistfully, a wide smile on his face, “She wants me to try on a pair of sweatpants she made for me and they already feel so comfortable.” 

“Well, glad you guys had a great time,” Dave huffed, “I got embarrassed and dragged around on people’s hijinks, I’ve got a dissertation for a fight caused with **my** slime that Jo stole- _A-tchoo!_ \- **and** I caught a cold… some free day.”

“Hey… I’ll write your dissertation for you,” Sam offered, “That way you can relax and read your book.” 

Dave blinked, wiping his eyes, “You’d do that for me?” he asked. 

“Yeah, we’re roommates and you’re having a rough time… that and you’re like a puppy when you’re sad, your eyes are beaming into my heart,” Sam chuckled, opening his laptop and typing away, “Cleanliness shouldn’t be too bad.” 

Dave smiled, “Thanks, Sam… I really appreciate that,” he yawned, opening his book and wiping his nose off before turning the page. 

“No problem, I know you’d do the same for me… g’night guys!” Sam said, turning off the lamp on their bedside table. 

“Night,” Scott yawned, rolling onto his side and cuddling his stuffed pig. 

“Goodnight,” Dave yawned, flipping through his book with a dim flashlight shining on the pages. 

“G’night, if zombies attack in the middle of the night, I’m jumping out the window and leaving you guys behind,” Shawn whispered- he says it every night, don’t worry. 

The school remained in still silence as the stars glimmered in the beautiful night sky, with snow cascading from the heavens to the thick blanket of white on the ground. 

  
  
  
  
  
  



	14. Welcome to Winter Break

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “How are we going on a field trip if we don’t have school?” Lindsay asked, confused while she braided Tyler’s hair- putting a few flowers she’d found in planter boxes in between individual sections of the braid. 
> 
> “This is recreational, we’re going to go see a Christmas movie and then we’re going shopping in the surrounding area of the Cinematic Luxuries Theater, doesn’t that sound fun?!” Chris asked with a grin on his face. 
> 
> For once in what would probably be his entire career, the mass of teens cheered in response to his announcement, clapping and whistling as some students hurried to the dormitory building to grab their jackets, wallets and phones.

On a beautiful morning, December 20th, the start of winter break, students awoke to sunlight beaming slowly into their windows to wake them up. Duncan stretching and yawning before any of his dormitory roommates, jumping down from his bunk to wake everyone up. 

“Wakey wakey kids, first day of winter break! Who wants to go snowboarding!?” Duncan cheered, pumping his fist in the air as he hurried to put on his clothes. 

“Not me,” DJ yawned, pulling himself out of bed. 

“I wanna go work on preppin’ seeds in the greenhouse for the garden this spring, eh,” Ezekiel said, rubbing his eyes and searching for an outfit. 

**_Click!_ **

“ **_Attention 9th and 10th grade students, it is mandatory that you all be present for breakfast dressed appropriately- that means no pajamas- in twenty-five minutes! Thank you!_ ** ” Dr. Oswald’s voice instructed over the intercom. 

“Ooo! I hope there’s waffles!” Cody cheered, tugging on a pair of jeans and searching for his cross necklace.

“There are probably waffles,” Duncan scoffed, smiling as he tugged on his sweater. 

Upon arriving at the dining hall, Cody’s prediction was correct, there were waffles. Cody grabbed a stack of three waffles and a bowl of marshmallow cereal, hurrying to sit down and drowning his waffles in syrup and butter. 

“Euch, could you be any less healthy with your meal choice?” Courtney scoffed, eating a grapefruit and drinking a cup of coffee. 

“I want you to blink, brace yourself and prepare to eat those words,” Gwen snickered, pointing to a nearby table where Owen was demolishing a stack of six waffles, a bowl of cereal, and a bowl of oatmeal- alongside a glass of chocolate milk, “He’s a b east.” 

Owen swallowed his mouthful of waffles and blinked, “Why’re the girls looking at me? Is there something on my face?” he asked, raising an eyebrow. 

Noah sighed, grabbing a napkin and dipping it in a glass of water, “Syrup, Peach Pit, there’s syrup on your face, come here,” he beckoned, politely wiping off Owen’s mouth and the rest of his face. 

“You could  _ lick _ it off if you wanted y’know,” Owen said, his voice lowering a bit as he waggled his eyebrows, smiling as Noah got the last bit of syrup off of his cheeks.

“Don’t tempt me,” Noah whispered with an embarrassed smile, blushing and going back to his bowl of strawberries, “You do look scrumptious.” 

“There are children present, you know,” Alejandro scoffed, eating an apple while Heather rolled her eyes next to him, her hand on his thigh. 

“We’re only a year younger than you, you know,” Dawn sighed, drinking her tea and taking a small bite of her croissant, “This is magnificent, Owen, it tastes like your aura.” 

“Thanks!” Owen said happily, finishing his waffles. 

Dave nervously nibbled on his fingers, slipping himself tiny pieces of watermelon. 

“Good Morning Kids, happy winter break!” Chris cheered, clapping as he walked into the dining hall, “Hope you’ve all got your jackets and purses, because we’re going on a field trip!” 

“How are we going on a field trip if we don’t have school?” Lindsay asked, confused while she braided Tyler’s hair- putting a few flowers she’d found in planter boxes in between individual sections of the braid. 

“This is recreational, we’re going to go see a Christmas movie and then we’re going shopping in the surrounding area of the Cinematic Luxuries Theater, doesn’t that sound fun?!” Chris asked with a grin on his face. 

For once in what would probably be his entire career, the mass of teens cheered in response to his announcement, clapping and whistling as some students hurried to the dormitory building to grab their jackets, wallets and phones. 

About twenty minutes later, the students walked out to two large separate buses- a green one for the 10th years and a red one for the 9th years- and boarded them with Mr. McLean and Mrs. O’Hallaran. 

On the 10th years’ bus, Noah was reading a book while Owen leaned against him, fast asleep with Sasha tucked underneath their seat, “This movie is going to be a crock of shit,” he yawned, massaging Owen’s scalp, “You smell nice.” 

Owen giggled in his sleep, breathing steadily as Noah continued to scratch his scalp, a smile stretched across the blonde’s freckled face.

“I love these kinds of movies!” Heather cheered, “Even if they’re quasi-sexist garbage, they’re really good quasi-sexist garbage! They’re so compelling!” 

Alejandro’s eyes brightened up, “I had no clue you felt the same way about holiday-themed romantic comedies… you’re perfect,” he sighed wistfully, blushing. 

“You’re more than perfect,” Heather whispered, twirling Alejandro’s hair on her finger as she planted a soft kiss on his cheek. 

Noah rolled his eyes, gently waking Owen up, “You gonna fall asleep during this movie, Marshmallow?” he asked, feeling his face burn with embarrassment as Owen placed a firm hand on his thigh. 

“I had other plans… better plans,” Owen chuffed, his voice low as he kissed Noah’s neck, making the smaller teen kick his legs ecstatically and suppress embarrassed laughter, “Rrrowr.” 

“Keep it PG-13 back there, fellas!” Chris yelled from the seat near the driver, flipping through a fashion magazine. 

Owen winked at Noah, a soft smile on his face as Noah stared at him with shimmering brown eyes, “You’ll see,” he whispered. 

“Can you two stop until we get to the theater please?” Heather gagged, “You’re so gross, Owen.” 

“Agreed, you are showing very little decorum,” Alejandro scoffed, throwing an apple at Owen’s head from their seat, rolling his eyes and kissing Heather’s cheek, “Do not pay them any attention, Angel.” 

Heather blushed, “Stop itttt,” she complained, playfully shoving Alejandro away as he smiled, gazing into her eyes. 

“Real mature,” Gwen chuckled from her seat near the back of the bus, drawing on her arm in black pen while Courtney flipped through a thick book she’d brought with her, “Nobody would like it if we kissed right now, huh?” 

Courtney flushed, slamming the book shut, “Who said anything about that?! Why would I kiss you specifically, it’s not like we’re in love with each other or something?!” she rambled, nervous and babbling out of instinct. 

“Uhm… I know, I was joking because all of the other couples on the bus are talking about sucking face,” Gwen said nonchalantly, “Chill out, Courtney.” 

Courtney blinked, “Of- of course! That’s totally what I meant too! H aha,” she muttered, burying herself back in her book until something hard hit her in the side of the head, “OW! Hey!” 

Duncan laughed from his seat next to DJ, “Sorry, Doll, I was aiming for the window,” he chuckled, peeking out the back window of the bus to the 9th grade bus that was following behind them, waving at Scott. 

“I hope the movie isn’t a horror movie,” Cameron muttered, being strapped in the back of the bus to his wheelchair and going over holiday horror films on his tablet. 

“Me too, I’d hate for the first time I’ve spent off school property to be watching a scary movie,” Dave replied, chewing on his index finger, “I hope it’s a nice movie.” 

“We’re watching  _ Christmas on the Runway _ , it’s a chick flick, I doubt it’s gonna be scary,” Jo grumbled from her seat next to Brick, who was eagerly discussing his hopes about the film with Dakota. 

“Jo, chick flicks are a classic cornerstone of media, and without them, romantic comedy as a genre would be filled with the same nonsensical drivel that’s in other films,” Brick scoffed, sticking his tongue out at Jo until she gave him a kiss on the cheek, “P-point taken.” 

“Mmhm, there we go,” Jo scoffed, “I’m stoked to go shopping after, this movie’s gonna suck eggs.” 

“I don’t believe I’m familiar with that expression,” Cameron noted, flipping through a book. 

“And you never will be,” Scott scoffed, turning and waving back at Duncan, “I’ll bet the 10th years are having a whale of a time on the bus.”

“Geoff I swear to God, I’m not on the clock but if you keep singing that damn song you will be getting thirty thousand words on the history of buses, we clear?!” Chris snapped from the front seat, already annoyed. 

“Yes Dude, I mean Sir Dude, I… yes, Mr.McLean,” Geoff muttered, leaning back against his seat next to Bridgette with folded arms, “Yo Owen… you got anything you wanna sneak into the theater to munch on?” 

Owen looked up from his seat, Noah now fast asleep in  _ his _ lap, “Uhm… nope, I think there might be a doughnut in my pocket, but I’m gonna buy popcorn and candy and stuff at the theater. Why rob them of their revenue? Theater popcorn is delicious,” he chuckled, licking his lips. 

“Awww c’mon, Chubbo, you’ve never wanted to live dangerously, sneak something in just for kicks?” Duncan asked, cracking his knuckles. 

“Don’t call me Chubbo again or I’ll rearrange your skeleton,” Owen said nonchalantly, blinking slowly, “You can sneak in stuff if you want, but I feel like doing that when you can afford not to is dumb.”

Duncan rolled his eyes, “Whatever,” he scoffed, pulling out his phone, “Are we there yet?” 

“We’re pulling into the parking lot, relax, gosh!” Harold sighed, leaning against Leshawna as the bus pulled up to the front of the theater, the doors opening and letting the students file out. 

A smiling representative with a soft Texan accent- bewildering if you remember our current location- stood in front of the walkway to the theater with scrunched-up eyes. 

“Howdy y’all, and welcome to the Cinematic Luxuries Theater, if you follow me right this way I’ll escort you to the lobby and instruct you on the location of our deluxe private showing room where you will be seeing  _ Christmas on the Runway _ in perfect high definition,” the representative said, rocking back on her heels and walking into the building as the students followed her, with Chris and Blainley lagging behind. 

“I’ve got a plan in case this flick is lame, Mildred,” Chris whispered, a devilish smile on his face. 

“Don’t call me that you rancid skank,” Blainley hissed, shoving Chris and thumbing through her wallet, “What’s the plan?” 

“I’ll tell you when we take our seats… you getting popcorn or something?” Chris asked. 

“Look at me and dare to ask that question again,” Blainley said, unamused with Chris’s horseshit- as can be expected, have you met this motherfucker?

“You getting popcorn or something?” Chris asked with a demented laugh, whacking Blainley on the back as they finally entered the theater and felt the comforting warmth of the central heating, looking at the students all in line for concessions, “If we hurry we can take our seats and I can tell you my plan.” 

Blainley sighed, grabbing Chris by the arm and taking him to the theater, her hair unraveling from its thick french roll and falling unappetizingly at her shoulders. 

At the concession stand, Noah clung to Owen’s back like a koala while the teen decided what size popcorn he should get, tongue stuck out in deep thought while pondering his next move. 

“Uhm… extra large please… and two boxes of Caramilk bites,” Owen pondered, rubbing Noah’s back and pinching his butt, “You want anything?” 

“A cherry slushie,” Noah muttered, still half-asleep as he handed Owen a black bank card from his back pocket. 

“It’s okay, Gummy Bear, I’ve got it,” Owen replied, paying for their food and eagerly digging into his popcorn, lowering Noah down to the ground and walking to the theater with all of his snacks in tow, Sasha staring unamused at loose pieces of popcorn Owen dropped. 

“They are truly ridiculous,” Alejandro scoffed from behind Owen and Noah, holding a bucket of popcorn and a soda with two straws, “Heather, move your hand.” 

“Make me,” Heather teased. 

Alejandro flushed, widening his eyes, “Heatherr, get your hands out of my back pockets,” he whined, biting his lip as Heather kissed his jawline, “Stop i ttt.” 

“W aah, Heather stop it,” Heather mocked, sticking out her tongue and slipping a piece of popcorn from the bucket past her lips, “That’s how you sound.” 

The group of students all sat down in the cushy heated theater seats as the lights in the theater went out, the screen slowly coming to life as the film began to roll. 

“It’s dark in here,” Dave cried, biting his pinkie finger as Ella gave him a kiss on the cheek, resting a hand on his leg, “Mmm… okay, I’m okay.” 

“That’s right, I’m right here,” Ella whispered, “Shhhh, the movie’s starting, see? Light.” 

“Pussy,” Scott hissed from his seat, his feet stretched out and en pointe over the seat in front of him, eliciting a harsh slap from Zoey, “Hey!” 

“I don’t wanna hear toxic masculinity coming out of the mouth of a male ballerina,” Zoey grumbled, snickering, “He is a little bit of a crybaby, but leave him alone.” 

“Lindsay, look, she’s wearing a chiffon dress with glitter on the sleeves!” Brick whispered, clapping his hands silently as Jo slowly began to doze off. 

“Oh my gosh E e e ee!” Lindsay squealed, kicking her feet, “Isn’t that cute, Tyler?!” 

Tyler blinked slowly, giving a weak nod and eating his popcorn with a smile on his face. He hadn’t gotten very much sleep the night before and was very tired, but he loved seeing his girlfriend happy- even if he had no clue what the hell the movie was about so far. 

Noah yawned, “I thought this was going to be about an airplane runway,” he complained, rolling his eyes, “You wanna have some fun, Marshmallow?”

Owen nodded eagerly, grabbing Noah’s wrists and yanking Noah onto his lap, pressing his lips against Noah’s and grabbing the back of the smaller teen’s head, suppressing a low groan as he slid his tongue into Noah’s mouth, drool leaking from the seal of their tight kiss as Noah wrapped his legs around Owen’s torso. 

Courtney peeked over from further down the row and gagged, “Oh my g od, what the hell is wrong with them?” she whispered, jabbing Gwen in the shoulder and making her look. 

“They’re not the only ones,” Gwen noted, gesturing to Alejandro and Heather, who were now upside down in their seat with Heather sitting on Alejandro’s abdomen, kissing up and down his neck while he gripped the chair with his legs. 

Courtney scoffed, “Some people have no common sense,” she whispered, being the yuppie cunt of the bunch as usual and scanning the theater for more couples, “Euch!” she gagged, pointing at a diagonal and jabbing Gwen in the shoulder again. 

Harold was straddling in Leshawna’s lap, their hands knit together and lips pressed tight against one another’s, emphatic squeaky kissing noises heard every time they parted, at one point when witnessing a particularly flourished release, Courtney watched light catch onto a beading stretch of saliva connecting both teens’ lips, making it shimmer as her face went green. 

“W ow,” Gwen laughed, resting a hand on Courtney’s thigh, “Maybe we should kiss.” 

Courtney flushed, bursting the soda she held in her hands as it spilled all over Gwen’s skirt, “L-look over there!” she exclaimed, only to be shushed by half of the theater as she and Gwen turned to see Bridgette stretched across Geoff’s torso, the two of them huffing and muttering as they embraced one another, Bridgette nearly giving a high pitched squeak as Geoff shifted, “Repulsive.” 

Gwen rolled her eyes, folding her arms and taking a sip of her drink, “Are you finished yet?” she asked with a raised eyebrow, completely unamused. 

“No! Not really,” Courtney whispered. 

In their seat near the exit, Chris whispered to Blainley, “Now’s our chance, while they’re all distracted, get up, get up, we’re gonna bail.” 

Blainley grinned, clapping quietly and standing up, following Chris sneakily down the walkway out of the exit door to the theater and pulling out her phone, eagerly scheduling an a-la-carte botox appointment at a clinic a few blocks away from the theater, “I’m gonna go get my shots done,” she grumbled, tugging at her purse. 

“I’m probably gonna go to Timmy’s,” Chris replied, “Just go sit there and watch people pretend they’ve got things to do… might not even order anything.” 

After they left, Alejandro sat up, Heather’s tongue still in his mouth as his eyes crossed, he hummed, pulling her off of him and catching his breath, “Mi amor,” he whispered, “I believe that Mr. McLean and Mrs. O’Hallaran are no longer here.” 

“Well shh, I wanna keep going,” Heather whined, gripping Alejandro’s shoulders and moving back in for the kiss. 

“No no no, we can go shopping early, Princess, let’s go,” Alejandro whispered, kissing Heather’s cheek and gently sliding her coat onto her shoulders, “Where is your purse?” 

“Got it,” Heather whispered, “Hurry, let’s go!” she and Alejandro hurried out to the exit, sneaking past the concession stand and out of the theater into the dense snow and the bustling shopping center. 

Owen gently moved away from Noah, gasping for breath with blue slushie still in his mouth, “W ow… oh, hey,” he whispered, “I think Al and Heather left.” 

Noah rubbed his head, dizzy with a dopey smile on his face, “Oh… th-they left,” he mumbled, “You wanna go shopping?” 

Owen blinked, still in a bit of a daze, feeling the sweet sensation of the kiss in his chest and humming from the warmth and happiness as Noah got up and gently tugged Owen along, “W-wait, my slushie!” he complained, having decimated his popcorn earlier. 

“I’ll buy you a new one, hurry up before someone notices that we left,” Noah whispered, clapping his hands for Sasha to follow alongside him, leaving the theater with Owen and making plans for their shopping venture.

After about twenty minutes the theater was empty- well, except for Dakota, Sam, Brick, Jo, Bridgette, and Geoff, who were all either fast asleep or making out aggressively in their seats and ignoring the movie. Lindsay was really invested in the film, but she figured she could just buy it whenever she wanted and she wanted to go shopping. 

In the shopping center, there was a designer shoe warehouse and Alejandro was sitting on a bench watching Heather buy several pairs of platform wedges, giggling with excitement as she tried each one on, “You are adorable,” he sighed. 

Heather hurriedly handed the cashier a deep maroon bank card, “I’ll take all of them,” she said, holding two thick paper bags stuffed with shoeboxes, “You didn’t pick anything out for yourself?” 

Alejandro rolled his eyes, “My boots are fine, thank you,” he replied, standing up and taking one of Heather’s bags, “Where to next?” 

“Hmm… you pick,” Heather offered, taking her bank card back from the cashier and stowing it away neatly in her wallet and subsequently her purse. 

“Okay then, we are going to go drink some traditional Spanish hot chocolate, follow me, Princess,” Alejandro beckoned, gently reaching around Heather with his free arm and touching her hip as they walked together. 

Near the shoe warehouse, there was a bookstore with a pastry shop inside of it. Noah was standing on a step ladder looking at new titles to buy for himself- and cookbooks to buy for Owen- while Owen was buying a massive shopping bag full of pastries and chocolates, chewing on a croissant and making a brief face, blinking at the woman at the counter. 

“Are you actually making these?” Owen asked, licking crumbs off of his lips and sticking out his tongue, silently thanking himself for not buying more croissants than the one that was in his hand. 

The woman at the counter sheepishly shook her head, admitting that they were ordered from an outside facility rather than being baked in-house, “What’s the matter with them?” she asked, rubbing her thumb and forefinger together. 

“They taste like they’re cut with something different… there’s a chewier texture on the inside, and the crust is bitter,” Owen gagged, sniffing the croissant, “There’s dried honeycomb in here...y uck.” 

“If you’d like, we have the supplier’s card available,” the cashier offered, handing a business card to Owen and looking nervous as Owen continued to sniff the croissant. 

“The butter used in these layers was poorly melted… and they used  _ salted _ butter, what kind of blasphemy is this?” Owen huffed, gagging as he rolled up the croissant in a napkin and stuck it in his bag, “I need to run analysis on that thing, oh my gosh.” 

The cashier bit her lip, looking nervous as Owen to continued to sniff and lick at the croissant, getting ready to smack it against the counter to see whether or not it was stale on the inside when he paused, turning to his right and greeting, “Hi, Buddy!” 

Noah walked over, dragging a bag stuffed with books behind him, “Come on, Sugarsnap, let’s go to a real bakery so you can leave these nice people alone,” he beckoned, kissing Owen’s hand as Owen grabbed his bag of books and walked out. 

Before he followed after his boyfriend, Noah turned to the cashier and rolled his eyes, “Don’t mind him, he’s really passionate about baked goods because his parents own a doughnut shop,” he explained casually. 

The cashier’s face became even more intrigued and confused, “Which one?” she asked, twirling a piece of hair on her index finger. 

“Oh, it’s just a hole in the wall, don’t worry about it, they’re no threat to your business or anything,” Noah laughed, walking out the door and hurrying to catch up with Owen, Sasha walking alongside him with little boots on her paws to protect them from the snow on the pavement. 

Near the bookstore, Lindsay was in a clothing store picking out different outfits, Tyler’s jacket draped over her shoulders. Upon returning to the checkout counter with a basket that was stuffed with clothes and two boxes of shoes, she turned to see Tyler shivering and half-asleep against the checkout counter, and handed the cashier a pink glittery bank card, “Hold on, don’t ring me up yet!” she called, hurrying to the back. 

Upon returning, Lindsay laid a soft insulated hoodie onto the counter, clapping as the cashier rang up her purchases and neatly placed them in a shopping bag. 

“That was $1,986 and 89 cents… are you sure you want me to process this order?” the cashier asked with a raised eyebrow. 

“Oh yeah yeah, go ahead… unless your machine can’t handle it, I have cash,” Lindsay giggled, pulling out a pink wallet covered in faux-fur and pulled out 20 neat hundred dollar bills. 

The cashier’s jaw dropped, “Sweetheart, how old are you?” he asked, hurriedly processing the order and giving Lindsay her card back. 

“Uhm… Oh, I know this one! I just turned 16 in November!” Lindsay cheered, showing the cashier her driver’s license, which had rhinestones on the back, “Isn’t it pretty?!” 

“It’s very pretty,” the cashier said casually, blinking as Lindsay grabbed the hoodie from the bag and wrapped it around Tyler’s shoulders. 

Tyler woke up a little, looking at Lindsay with a soft smile, “What time is it?” he asked with a yawn, blinking and looking around, “Where are we?” 

“Clothing store, Baby, we’re still in a clothing store,” Lindsay whispered, jumping up and kissing Tyler’s cheek, patting his shoulder, “You still sleepy?” she asked. 

Tyler shook his head, rubbing his eyes as he sighed, observing the hoodie, “Oh- did you… get this for me?” he asked, tears pooling in the bottom of his eyes as he smiled. 

“Yeah! You were shaking and I don’t want you to get sick again because I had to borrow your jacket,” Lindsay replied cheerfully, “C’mon, let’s go get you a smoothie or something, you hungry?” 

Tyler nodded, grabbing the bag of clothes and walking with Lindsay to a juice shop that was around the corner, catching a snowflake on his nose on the way and chuckling to himself as he followed his girlfriend, feeling like the luckiest man in the world. 

Down the street, there was an artillery shop, where Izzy and Eva were shopping alongside Duncan. Izzy holding a cutlass and giggling as she asked the cashier with a wild smile on her face, “How much for the pirate sword?”

“$800,” the cashier replied with a stiff yawn, having rung up a set of daggers for Duncan, “Normally you guys need to be 18 to buy this stuff, but considering that you kids have the money I’m just gonna let you take it, don’t tell anyone where you got this stuff.” 

“We won’t, promise!” Izzy replied, taking the beautiful velvet-lined box with the cutlass in it and stroking it, “Oh you are p erfect, aren’t you?!” 

“Alright kids, high-tail it outta here, I can’t have you on the cameras for too long or the cops’ll be here, shoo, shoo,” the cashier whispered, waving the kids off as they scattered with their weapons. 

About five hours later, Chris snapped to attention, static in his seat at the Tim Horton’s he’d hid at, a barista urgently tapping him on the shoulder and gently shaking him, “Wha-what?” he asked, blinking at the barista. 

“Hey, guy, don’t you have someplace to be? It’s been hours, the sun’s gone down,” the barista stated, “Some lady with a weird hairdo came by lookin’ for ya, she’s outside.” 

Chris blinked, “SHIT!” he yelled, jumping up and scrambling out the door, nearly breathless as he came in contact with Blainley, whose face was stiff with a smile spread across it, “Where are the kids?” 

“Not at the theater,” Blainley sighed, “They scrambled, we’re supposed to be back at the school in forty-five minutes, we need to find them and fast.” 

Chris groaned, “I can’t believe I sat in a Tim Horton’s for six hours and didn’t even order anything, hope your  **botox** appointment went well,” he scoffed, glaring at Blainley as he hurriedly wandered down the sidewalk, the female teacher following behind him, exasperated. 

About twenty minutes in, they found Leshawna and Harold at a beauty supply store, Leshawna buying nail polish and Harold holding a few of her other shopping bags on a bench outside of the shop. 

“Well, at least we found two of them,” Blainley grumbled, rolling her eyes, “Leshawna! Come on, Sweetie, we have to leave.” 

Leshawna walked out of the shop with her bag of nail polish and took the shopping bags out of Harold’s arms, giving him a kiss and helping him up before glaring at Blainley, “You call me ‘Sweetie’ again, and we gonna have a problem, got that, Blondie?” she asked, looking Blainley up and down as the quasi-geriatric blonde nodded in stiff reply. 

“Is anyone else in there?” Chris asked, rubbing his eyes as he glared at Harold, whose cheeks were pinkish red from the cold after relaxing on the bench. 

“Anne-Maria! C’mon, we gotta go!” Leshawna called into the beauty supply store, Anne-Maria hurrying out with a couple of shopping bags, her hair gently bouncing as she stood still, “What’d you get?” 

“Just some volumizer, some more hairspray… got some conditioner for Zeke… where’s he at? He go to that hardware store across the street?” Anne-Maria asked, finger-combing her hair. 

“Yeah, he did, lemme get him,” Harold stated, hurrying across the street and opening the door to the hardware store, “C’mon Zeke, the teachers are here, we’ve gotta go back to school.” 

Ezekiel peeked out, carrying some of Anne-Maria’s shopping bags and a couple bags of his own- mostly filled with gardening equipment and packets of seeds after milling around in the gardening section of the hardware store, “Hi Anne-Maria! I got some eggplant seeds, eh! I’m stoked for the next growth season!” he called out, hurrying to join the group. 

“Where’s your jacket,  _ pendejo _ ?” Anne-Maria asked, taking one of Ezekiel’s bags and gently touching the underside of his chin. 

“Oh, I left it on the bus,” Ezekiel laughed, wiping his nose on his shirt sleeve and standing up straight, “Let’s get a move on, eh?” 

Anne-Maria rolled her eyes, draping her jacket over Zeke’s shoulders, “There, that’ll be good enough until we get back onto the bus…  _ pobrecito _ , what am I going to do with you, huh?” 

Ezekiel blushed, “Love me,” he chuckled, “This reminds me of when we were harvesting the last of the corn, and you asked me what I’d do if we were both trapped in a blizzard.” 

“Alright, that is  **enough** flirting, we have to  **go** ,” Chris demanded, dragging the group onward through the shopping center to locate their classmates. 

They located Noah and Owen at a nearby bakery, Owen and the resident baker having gotten into an intense and vocal bake-off in the back of the establishment, with an exhausted and hungry Noah half-asleep at a table in the front of the bakery, Sasha off-duty for a brief moment and gnawing on a raw hide snack while her master relaxed against the table. Owen indeed won the bake-off and he and the baker exchanged recipes and phone numbers. 

They located Scott and Duncan buying hot chocolate with Heather and Alejandro, Duncan having fallen asleep against Scott in the minutes before they arrived, Alejandro and Heather preparing to make our egregiously in public before they arrived as well. Safe to say, they were frustrated and full of witty remarks in reaction to Chris and Blainley’s arrival- quite a few ‘Oh you remembered to do your job’ echoes from the crowd. 

Chris found Dawn and B in a wiccan gift shop, Dawn buying bulk rose quartz and healing crystals, B signing with the deaf cashier. He practically had to drag Dawn away from the shop, with B following eagerly behind, holding her shopping bags for her with a smile on his face. 

Blainley managed to find Lightning and Sky at a fitness store, buying weights, protein powder, and an odd arrangement of supplements- DJ was also there, sheepishly hanging around the back looking for vegetarian protein powder himself, in spite of eating enough meat to make a real vegetarian faint. It didn’t take much persuasion to get DJ out, but Lightning needed to be bribed with a good seat on the bus and Sky followed after him. 

The group found Lindsay, Tyler, Dave, and Ella getting ice cream at a parlor a few blocks away, with Dave beginning to fall asleep as Ella hummed to herself about the pretty pink cotton candy flavour she’d managed to get from the menu. 

Blainely found Jacques, Josée, Tom, and Jen at a fashion boutique, each loaded up with armfulls of shopping bags and sporting eager grins as they hurried with the group to locate everyone else. Jacques was hugging his shopping bags as though they were a giant teddy bear, talking with Lindsay about all of the beautiful leotards he had purchased. 

Chet, Lorenzo, Cameron, Cody, and Sierra were at a video game arcade, all being escorted out for closing time right as the group managed to find them. 

“How long have you been in there playing video games, Dude?” Harold asked, raising an eyebrow as he adjusted his glasses on his face, watching Cody’s face light up as he held up an empty metal bucket. 

“This used to be full of quarters and tickets… we have been here for like… six hours, Dude, it’s amazing, next time we go on this field trip, you and Sam should come… where were you anyway?” Cody asked. 

“Hanging out with my lovely lady,” Harold sighed wistfully as Leshawna interlocked hands with him and gave him a smooth kiss on the cheek, making him blush and his freckles practically illuminate the dark atmosphere. 

“Gag me,” Cody scoffed, rolling his eyes, “We won some sick prizes, my man, you’ve gotta come with us next time.” 

“Whatever,” Harold replied, thumbing the back of Leshawna’s hand as she gazed into his eyes. 

The group found Emma, Scarlett, Max, Courtney, and Gwen in a massive bookstore, Scarlett coming out with a small shopping bag of trinkets that Max had purchased, and Max coming out with two armloads of shopping bags filled with books that Scarlett had purchased. 

Courtney hurried out of the bookstore blushing as she massaged her cheeks with her hands, a dazed smile spread across her face as Gwen casually waved her fingers at the brunette. Emma rolling her eyes unamused and slightly angry as she stood next to Owen, wishing Noah was more awake so she could talk to him. 

The group milled around the shopping center until about 9:45 at night, getting on their separate buses completely exhausted and heading on the road to the school compound again. 

Almost all of the 9th years were passed out asleep- save for Sam, Dakota, Brick, and Jo, who had slept for six hours in the movie theater long after everyone had left to go shopping on their own- but the 10th years were generally awake, having hushed discussions over the low rumbling of the bus tires against the pavement. 

“So, what happened with you and Gwendolyn at the bookstore?” Lindsay asked in a hushed whisper, leaned over to talk to Courtney while Tyler was asleep in her lap, clutching his jacket with a fond smile on his face. 

“We kissed!” Courtney squeaked quietly, kicking her legs and fanning herself off, looking as though she was biting back tears, “We had a quick discussion about books… and about… certain characters being fond of certain other characters within books who happen to be of the same gender and then we started talking about all of this deep stuff and then we  _ kissed _ ! And she wants to go out with me!” 

Gwen was fast asleep, lying back in Courtney’s lap as the bus rolled on up hills and across neatly paved roads back to the Muskoka Institute of Success’s pathway. 

“Wait! So you’re like… girlfriends now?” Lindsay asked, tilting her head to the side, “Not a question like it’s a bad thing, I’m just kinda bad at context clues sometimes.” 

“We are! We are and I’m so happy! I could cry!” Courtney blurted out, jittering in your seat. 

“Please don’t, people are trying to sleep,” Owen grumbled, stroking Noah’s hair as he slept in Owen’s lap, Owen planting a kiss on Noah’s nose and watching his still and quiet sleeping face spread out into a warm smile. 

Upon arriving back on campus, Dr. Oswald was standing at the front of the building holding a cane with a smile on her face. 

“I hope you all had a splendid field trip, children. Unfortunately due to your tardiness- considering you were expected to be back on the premises at approximately 7pm, dinner was cancelled. Head on up to the dormitory building, I promise there will be a large breakfast tomorrow morning as retribution and you are free to go into the dining hall for late night snacks now that school is no longer in session,” Dr. Oswald explained, waving in the direction of the dormitory building as the students sleepily made their way. 

Chris and Blainley prepared to sneak off until Dr. Oswald cleared her throat, smacking the palm of her hand with the cane. 

“Dolores… we can explain… Blainley had a uhm… a dire medical appointment she had to go to, and we uhh, we lost track of the kids!” Chris chuckled, shrugging as he backed away, “Isn’t that  _ crazy _ ?” 

“No… it’s a lie,” Dr. Oswald chuckled, “I trust you understand what the retribution for this little incident will be, considering the liability the school would have held if you actually  _ lost _ one of the children.” 

Chris blinked, giving a hard gulp and folding his hands behind his back, “Does it involve,” he gestured to the cane, “that?” 

Dr. Oswald simply smiled, smacking the cane against the cobblestone and taking a deep inhale, her breath puffing out into the frigid Canadian air upon the exhale as she pointed the cane toward the main school building, “That’s for me to know, and you to find out… this is going to be a splendid winter break,” she said, laughing as Chris and Blainley rushed into the school building, Dr. Oswald following behind a bit slower so she could savor in the moment. 

In the dormitory wing, in dormitory C2, Courtney was awake writing away in her diary when she heard a knocking on the window and slid it open, seeing Izzy dangling from the roof. 

“I heard the good news! Come on, Dawn and I have something special for you to celebrate!” Izzy whispered, grabbing Courtney’s wrists, and hoisting her up to the roof as the window slammed shut behind her. 

On top of the dormitory building’s roof, there was a small blanket and a plate of cupcakes, Dawn sitting cross-legged near one of the chimneys with her hands pressed to her thighs. 

“Congratulations on finally getting together with Gwen, Courtney… I had a premonition about this event taking place a few nights ago, and it has finally been absolved,” Dawn whispered, “We had Owen bake the cupcakes after I had my premonition.” 

Courtney smiled, wiping away a tear as she held up a cupcake, Izzy getting excited and holding hers up as a toast. 

“To love!” Izzy laughed, clinking cupcakes with the other two girls. 

“To love!” 


	15. The Day Before Christmas

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I am well aware of the irony of putting the Christmas Eve chapter up on Thanksgiving, but Thanksgiving is a busted concept so it's already Holly Jolly Time in my book soooo....

It was a beautiful afternoon- well it was more evening, being around 5:30- in December, December 24th to be specific, and Noah was working on sketches in the corner of the culinary club work studio while Owen baked enough cookies to fill the backseat of a Honda Odyssey- or the vast bottomless pit that was his stomach, but I digress. 

“What’re you drawing?” Owen asked, stirring cookie dough batter, “Is it me?” 

Noah peeked down at his sketchbook, seeing a sketch of Owen in nothing but a modesty fig leaf and flushing a deep red, looking away, “Y-yes,” he muttered to himself, “Finish making your cookies.” 

Owen shrugged, going back to stirring his dough and eventually dishing out sections onto sheets, rotating the most recent batch out of the oven and the new batch into the oven, dusting the flour off of his hands, he walked over to Noah with a smile on his face, “Can I see the picture?” he asked. 

Noah laughed nervously, clutching his sketchbook and giving a sharp wheeze before staving Owen off with his free hand, “Uhm… I uhh… I…” another wheeze, “No, no you can’t it uhm-” another wheeze, “Isn’t finished yet,” he insisted, biting his lip and trying to steady his breathing as Owen took a couple of steps back, taking off his apron and reaching into a bag that was on the counter, handing Noah his inhaler. 

“I hope Sasha’s enjoying her day off,” Owen chuckled, transferring the freshly baked cookies onto a rack and frosting them red, green, and white before leaving them on their own to cool, “You want one?” 

Noah shook his head, giving a harsh swallow as he hurriedly flipped the pages in his sketchbook, drawing still lifes of the cookies that were on the rack rather than absentmindedly doodling pictures of his boyfriend. He ignored the low rumbling of his stomach and added shading to a few of the drawings. 

“You should really eat something,” Owen offered, putting two cookies on a plate with a glass of milk and shrugging, “I didn’t wanna say anything, but you look like you lost weight.” 

Noah looked away before looking down at his legs and his thin fingers, the space between his thighs big enough to be a placeholder for a small cardboard box, his medical alert bracelets barely touching his wrists and threatening to slide off of his hands like a regular sized dog collar flies off of the neck of a teacup chihuahua. Noah nervously set down his sketchbook and took a bite of a cookie, fighting back tears as he savoured the cookie’s taste. 

“Aw, no, I’m sorry, Buddy,” Owen pleaded, sitting next to Noah and rubbing his hair, “I didn’t mean anything by it, I promise… your stomach just makes noises all the time and I figured-” 

“Don’t worry about it,” Noah muttered, breathing in the comforting scent of Owen’s fabric softener on his sweater vest and taking another bite of the cookie, his stomach fumbling out another low growl in content, “It’s fine.” 

Owen kissed Noah’s cheek and went to take out his last batch of cookies, setting them down to cool and returning to the counter where Noah was sitting, finger-combing his hair and whispering into his ear. 

“I love you,” Noah whispered, gripping the back of Owen’s head as the blonde hummed peacefully, “You wanna make out?” 

Owen nodded eagerly and laced his fingers with Noah’s before pressing their lips together and things seemed to smoothly pause as they horsed around.

Time passed, and approximately 45 to 50 minutes later, Geoff opened the door to the culinary club studio, “Hey Dudes, we’re gonna watch Christmas movies you ready with the- Oh,” he chuckled, seeing Noah and Owen lying down across one of the counters, making out. Owen had his hands on Noah’s wrists and Noah’s back was arched to support Owen’s doughy stomach, the intense ‘smooch’ noises overloaded Geoff’s ears. 

Geoff flickered the lights and cleared his throat, “Uhh… Dudes?” he asked, watching Owen squeak and roll off of the counter, the neckline of his shirt soaked with drool as Noah shot up, gasping for air, “You guys okay?” 

Noah nodded, giving a short “Mm-hm” before wheezing, pawing around on the counter for his inhaler while Owen dusted himself off and put the frosted cookies into a plastic container, shutting it and handing it to Geoff. 

“We’re gonna be a little late,” Owen said, cheeks still rosy and dazed as he patted Noah on the back, “I need a shower and a clean shirt.” 

Noah wheezed, taking a dose of medicine from his inhaler and flopping onto his back on the counter, chest rising and falling with every laboured breath as his eyes crossed, a smile still plastered on his face, “Me too… and I… need some water,” he panted, pushing himself up into a seated position again as Owen hoisted him into his arms, the two exchanging a vaguely breathless kiss. 

Geoff blinked, still stunned by what he had seen and slammed the door to the culinary club studio shut, wandering down the hall to the media center with a disturbed look on his face and passing by Alejandro on his way. 

“Are Owen and Noah in there?” Alejandro asked, in his pajamas with his hair in a scrunchie, Heather following behind him with her hands in his pajama pockets. Geoff blinked and darted his pupils around, trying to put what he wanted to say into the proper words. 

“Don’t go in there, they’re busy with somethin’, I got the cookies, don’t worry about it,” Geoff yammered, hurrying down the hall and setting the cookies down on a table in the media center, “Bridge!” 

Bridgette turned from her position on a ladder near the ceiling, hanging garlands and talking to Izzy, “Yeah, Geoff?” she asked, trying to maintain her balance while watching Izzy to make sure she didn’t chew on the garlands. 

“You know where the 9th years are? We’re supposed to start the movie at 7,” Geoff asked, pawing at his pajama shirt- which had a pink rabbit on the front- and looking at Bridgette, “Your hair’s really pretty.” 

Bridgtte blushed, “Thanks… Scott is in the dance studio, I know that much because I heard music from behind the door,” she explained, “Uhm… Topher and Lightning are in the auditorium, Max, Cameron, and Scarlett are in the library, and I have no idea where everyone else might be, but they can’t have gone too far, Sky and Shawn are probably with Zoey and Jasmine in the gym again.” 

“Thanks, Bridge! Have fun! Don’t knock ‘er off the ladder, Izzy,” Geoff called out, walking down the hall and turning the corner to hear classical music echoing from underneath the door to the dance studio. Geoff rolled his eyes and knocked, opening the door and seeing Scott turning around on the open dance floor in his leotard, “Bro, it’s almost time for the movie, what are you doing?” 

“I’m writing a book, what the hell does it look like I’m doing, Party Boy?” Scott huffed, leaping out of his turn sequence and catching his breath, turning off the music and looking to his left, “Show’s over, Dunc.” 

Geoff’s eyelids lowered, “You really had nothing better to do than watch your boyfriend twirl around at 6:30?” he asked, clapping his hands, “C’mon, it’s time to watch the movie.” 

“I need to take a shower,” Scott huffed half-breathlessly, sniffing his armpits and sticking out his tongue, “You coming, Duncan?” 

Duncan paused, his face pink as he looked at Geoff, “Am I allowed to answer that question?” he asked before letting his brain finish processing, “Ohhh… yeah, yeah I’m comin’, hurry up, I’m embarrassed.” 

Scott rolled his eyes, “Come on, I need to put my muscle cream on or I’m gonna be one sore son of a bitch,” he beckoned, finger-combing his hair as Duncan hurried after him. 

Geoff rolled his eyes and wandered upstairs to the gymnasium, opening the door and seeing a good chunk of the Muskoka Institute of Success volleyball team playing a practice game with no net- they don’t have keys to the supply closet in the gymnasium so they had to make do. 

“Time out!” Jasmine panted, grabbing the ball in midair and turning to Geoff, “Aw bollocks, is it time to watch the movie already?” 

“Yeah, go hit the showers and put some pajamas on, we’ve only got the length of two movies before dinner,” Geoff chuckled, clapping, “Let’s get a move on, Dudes!” 

Jasmine grabbed Shawn by the waistband of his pants and hoisted him over her shoulder, “C’mon Wallaby, game’s over,” she said, kissing Shawn’s cheek as he squirmed to get comfortable while being slung over her shoulder like a bag of flour. 

Sky cracked her knuckles, slapping Zoey on the back and tossing the ball back into a basket of volleyballs near the back of the gymnasium, “C’mon, it’s time to move,” she hissed, whacking Zoey in the back of the head, “Are you gonna stand there with your doe eyes like you do when the ball comes your way or are you gonna move?!” 

Zoey winced, biting her lip and hurrying out the gymnasium door, “Okay, okay, don’t hit me again!” she squealed on her way out, her sneakers squeaking against the floor in the hallway. 

Geoff left the gymnasium, going downstairs and down the hall to the library, opening the doors and seeing Cameron on his way out, in his pajamas with a blanket rolled up in his lap, “Whoops! Sorry, Cam,” he apologized. 

“It’s okay, I was just getting ready to leave because I didn’t wanna miss the movie,” Cameron said with a soft smile, pushing a joystick on the arm of his wheelchair and rolling down the hallway, “See you there, Geoff!” 

“Same to you, Little Dude!” Geoff said, giving Cameron a thumbs-up before looking into the library and seeing Scarlett and Max tangled together on the sofa, his cheeks going red as he looked away, “Alright, Nerd and Nerdette, you can suck tongue in the media center, let’s go.” 

Scarlett pulled herself off of Max, wiping her mouth off and slapping Max to bring him to attention, “My apologies, Geoffrey,” she uttered, jumping off of the sofa and pulling a dizzy Max to his feet, tugging on his pajamas and dragging him out of the library, “Come along, my Malevolent Marshmallow.” 

Max giggled, his face pink with excitement, save for the angry red bite mark where his neck and shoulder met, “I’m coming! Can we stop by the dormitory building before we go watch the movie? I want to get my plush elephant,” he requested, hurrying alongside Scarlett. 

Geoff sighed, tugging at his eyelids and scanning the massive library for anyone else, “Oh thank God,” he said in relief, seeing Lightning, Topher, and Sam at a counter near the librarian’s desk, looking in two large books, “C’mon Dudes, let’s get a move on!” 

Lightning grabbed Topher by the seat of his pants and carried him out of the library at a steady jog toward the media center with Sam slowly following behind them, piddling away at his mobile game while Geoff shut the library door and turned out the lights. 

A high pitched scream could be heard from behind the library door and the pattering of feet on the marbled flooring reached Geoff’s ears as he turned to face whatever the hell was happening inside of the library. 

**_THUNK!_ **

Geoff opened the door and saw Dave lying pitifully on the floor after having rammed face-first into the massive double doors, watching the smaller boy pick himself up and hobble down the hallway, avoiding eye contact with Geoff, “Goddamnit, Dave, you heard me say it was time to go!” he complained, rolling his eyes emphatically. 

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, it was dark in there, I got scared, I’m going, I’m going!” Dave whined, scrambling further down the hall to the media center, nearly tripping over the legs of his pajama pants as his slippers thumped against the flooring of the hall. 

After a few minutes of wrangling, Geoff walked into the media center where all of the students were cozy on the rows of heated sofas that looked at the large film-grade screen, holding three DVDs with a smile on his face, “Alright guys, we’ve got some of the most recent box office hits to choose from and I need a show of hands for our first pick, we’ve only got time for two movies before dinner,” he explained, receiving a collective nod from the audience, “Okay, show of hands who wants to watch _Ratatouille_ first?” 

Owen’s hand shot up alongside a fair array of hands, Geoff counted silently on his fingers and clasped his hands together, “Alrighty, and show of hands, who wants to watch _Cinderella III: A Twist In Time_ first?” he asked, counting the next set of hands and pondering as he did some mental math, “Mmhm… okay… who wants to watch- okay who the fuck snuck the _Juno_ DVD in here?” 

“I don’t think _Juno_ has been released on DVD yet,” Sierra yawned, upside down in her seat as Geoff fiddled through his handful of DVDs. 

“Uhm… okay, who wants to watch _Shrek the Third_ first?” Geoff asked, looking out to see absolutely no hands, “W o w, okay… well, _Ratatouille_ won the vote, so we’ll watch that one first.” 

Owen eagerly clapped his hands, holding a bucket of popcorn as Geoff slid the DVD into the box near the screen, hurrying to the rows of sofas and hopping onto the one in the back row near Bridgette, kissing her cheek as he lied down in her lap, beginning to fall asleep. 

“This movie is really pretty, animation is getting better compared to how it was in CGI before, remember _Toy Story_?” Harold whispered, his arm around Leshawna’s shoulder as the movie began to play.

“ _Toy Story_ was a nasty little CGI nightmare, everything looked like blanched clay,” Leshawna muttered, gagging as she rolled her eyes, “And that dopey ass Randy Newman music certainly didn’t help.” 

“Your film critique is blasé and biased, and yet I am no less enamored with your knowledge of the medium… you are perfection,” Harold whispered, kissing Leshawna’s neck as she giggled, nuzzling up against him and making him blush, “Absolute perfection… Gosh.”

Owen ate a handful of popcorn and waited patiently in the middle row, Noah relaxed across his lap reading a book, “This is so beautiful, I love this movie so much,” he whispered, his eyes sparkling. 

The film got to the scene with the vivid taste-based synesthesia and Owen was drooling, shoveling popcorn into his mouth as he gawked at the screen, kicking his legs in excitement as Noah shuffled in his lap, he poked Noah’s shoulder and gestured to the screen where Remy was biting into the strawberry and the cheese, whispering into Noah’s ear. 

Noah gasped, flushing as he shoved his tongue into Owen’s mouth, the two of them rolling around on the sofa and arching their backs. Courtney gagged, covering her eyes as she shoved Gwen. 

“Look at this, look at this nonsense,” Courtney hissed, rolling her eyes and pointing at Owen and Noah, blushing when Gwen rested her hand on Courtney’s thigh, “No, no I can’t.” 

“C’mon Court,” Gwen whispered, kissing Courtney’s neck, “Be a hypocrite,” she breathed, toying with Courtney’s hair and pressing her lips to Courtney’s own as they rubbed the backs of one another’s heads, flopping down against the sofa as well. 

“Is nobody actually gonna watch the movie?!” Cody complained, folding his arms. Trent tapped the back of Cody’s head and reached his arm around Cody’s shoulders, sighing in content. 

“Just chill, enjoy it,” Trent whispered, handing Cody his bucket of popcorn and gently squeezing Cody’s left shoulder with his hand, “It’s all good… look, there’s the scene where the rat gets struck by lightning.” 

**_BOOM!_ **

“AH!” Dave squealed, cowering in his seat as Ella twirled his hair around on her finger, whispering to him that it was just the movie, and that it was snowing outside so there couldn’t be any lightning. 

“Aw man, the rat lived! That’s bullshit!” Jo complained, folding her arms as Brick sketched in his fashion journal next to her, “Are you making a dress?” 

“That mushroom looks pretty, it’s inspiring me,” Brick whispered, a blanket draped over his knees and his fashion journal in his lap, “It’s got such good colour contrast, don’t you think?” 

“I dunno, Babe, it’s an animated mushroom, I just want dinner,” Jo whispered in reply. 

“Oh god why the hell does that old lady have a gun?!” Heather whispered, pressing her back against the sofa as Alejandro gripped her thigh, “Why is she shooting up her house over a rat?!” 

“This is why old people shouldn’t be allowed to live by themselves,” Noah wheezed, wiping drool off of his mouth as Owen watched in heavy anticipation, the loud and booming gunshots flashing on the theater-grade screen and startling a few of the students, with others whooping and cheering for the old woman. 

The ceiling caved in and the massive colony of rats rained down from the old woman’s rafters and the entire audience of affluent teens- most of whom have never seen a rat outside of pet stores and Toronto alley dumpsters- gagged in disgust. 

“E w w w! Gross!” Alejandro whined, “That is absolutely disgusting! How would a rat problem that big go unnoticed for that long?” 

“I mean, she is like a hundred years old, maybe she just doesn’t hear them or something? She seems pretty upset that they’re in her house… imagine how bad they **smell** ,” Dakota replied, sticking out her tongue in disgust and eating another handful of popcorn, “All those rancid, mangey little rats crawling around covered in rotten food and dirt and stuff from outside, just hanging over that half-rotten ceiling!” 

“I’m gonna be sick,” Lightning gagged, clasping both of his hands over his mouth as his cheeks flushed dark and went a greenish hue, sweat trickling down his forehead and getting in his eyes, “Can we sha-fast forward past this part or somethin’?” 

“I second that, I just wanna watch the one that knows how to cook and looks at least a little bit cleaner than the rest of them!” Zoey whined, kicking her feet as Geoff grabbed a TV remote and sped past the chase scene, stopping once Remy arrived in the sewer system of Paris, “Thanks, Geoff, that was so g r oss, that was disgusting!” 

“You people are pansies, they’re just a couple of rats, we’ve all seen them… at least on TV or something… before, they’re nothing new,” Jo scoffed nonchalantly, turning to Dawn who was sitting on the sofa behind her and Brick adjacent to an enamored B, “You’re with me, right? You love animals and junk, you’re always horsing around with the wildlife in the courtyard at ass o’ clock in the morning, you can’t be that upset about a couple rats.” 

Dawn shuddered in her seat, “While I do not advocate that the elderly woman harm any of those defenseless rats, they do spread disease, and they smell absolutely horrible, if my pet dog ever wanted to have her way with a rat that got into my house I would do nothing to stop her, it is only the circle of life,” she whispered, still a bit nauseous from seeing the cluster colony of rats. 

Jo huffed, rolling her eyes and watching the rest of the movie, glancing at the scene Remy was looking at through the ceiling, “Is the rat watching a standoff right now? What is it with this movie and guns, I thought it was for kids!” she asked, annoyed and confused at the scene playing out before her. 

“Shhhh!” Owen whispered, “We’re about to get to my favourite part!”

“This movie came out at the beginning of the school year, what the hell could possible be your favourite part?” Duncan scoffed until he saw the construction of the soup on-screen and saw Owen drooling listlessly and kicking his legs, “Of course.” 

Owen sighed, “That’s such a magnificent use of scallions, I would kill to learn what that broth he used is,” he whispered, leaning back in his seat and watching the screen, “I can practically smell the vivid and rich flavours from here.” 

“That’s your popcorn, Owen,” Izzy giggled from the ceiling, hung upside down and clutching a tub of popcorn of her own, her stomach growling, “I’m hungry, this movie is making me hungry, whose idea was this?” 

“You voted for _Ratatouille_ , Izzy,” Eva pointed out, sitting in the rafters and watching the movie, kicking her feet peacefully, “But I’m hungry too, I honestly just wanna go to the dining hall and wait outside for dinner to be ready.” 

“What’s for dinner anyway?” Izzy asked, drooling at the vivid images of the kitchen in the film, swinging across the rafters and dangling down to grab a handful of cookies from the snack table near the door before swinging back to where Eva was seated, munching on the cookies upside down and licking crumbled frosting off of her lips. 

“I dunno, and I really don’t care- Oh look, they’re tasting the soup… do they know the rat made it?” Eva asked.

“Of course they don’t know the rat made it, they don’t even know that there’s a rat in the kitchen,” Noah scoffed, grabbing a handful of popcorn from the bucket in Owen’s arms. 

“RAAAAT!” 

“Welp, they do now,” Topher pointed out from his seat near the back row of sofas, lying flat on his stomach and eating popcorn from his bucket strategically placed on the floor- if anyone is wondering where they got all of this popcorn from, there’s a user-friendly popcorn machine built into the back wall of the media center… the interesting features possible for privatized schools. 

“Oh god, are they gonna try to shoot it again?!” Dakota asked, “Where’d all the other rats go?!” 

“I think they like… went back to the old lady’s house maybe? O oo, or maybe this is where all of the rats in Toronto come from! That would be so cool! Do you think they fly little rat airplanes and got paid to shoot this movie?” Lindsay asked, “Would the studio pay the rats real people money or is there like rat money?”

Tyler shrugged, “Maybe they got paid in cheese?” he replied, scratching the side of his head in confusion, “Uhhh… maybe there was like a big table of cheese after the show and all the rats got to eat, and then they got sent cheese in the mail as payment… how would that work? Do rats have addresses?” 

“ _Yeah_ , there’s totally a secret rat society underneath the paved streets and they have homes, addresses, jobs, and organized crime just like humans do,” Noah snarked, rolling his eyes in contempt as he tossed another buttery handful of popcorn into his mouth, “They even have TV… their channels come in poor people’s cable packages like the foreign language channels do, it’s crazy how they managed to build all those tiny cameras.” 

Tyler gasped, “W ow, you’re really smart, Noah! Do they have a rat newspaper?” he asked “I wanna ask my dad for a copy, I’ve gotta see this!” 

“Why do you do the things you do?” Alejandro asked Noah, his eyelids narrowed as he watched Noah chuckling to himself in Owen’s lap, “He is absolutely not that gullible.” 

“Have you met him? He’s beyond that gullible,” Noah whispered in response, kissing Owen’s cheek as his stomach began to growl, “Don’t worry about it, his brain can’t process information in large chunks, after a few more minutes of paying attention to the movie he’ll have forgotten what I said.” 

“Tyler is a human being, not a goldfish,” Alejandro hissed, folding his arms in dismay as he and Noah began to argue back and forth, Tyler blissfully unaware and focusing more on the movie while Lindsay braided his deep brown locks. 

Near the end of the film, everyone was hungry and half-asleep, singing along in French to the pinnacle of music within the film, _Le Festin_ , and staring out the window at the beautiful snow from their seats. 

Alejandro sat with Heather and pouted at the French singing, being horrific at the language when spoken he wanted nothing to do with the music and was simply ready to start the next film, “Can we get this over with already? The flagrant showboating is starting to grate on my nerves,” he grumbled, rolling his eyes. 

“Oh can it, it’s Christmas Eve, we can have a little fun,” Duncan laughed, tossing a piece of popcorn at Alejandro and sticking out his tongue when Alejandro glared his way. 

In the middle of their revelry, the lights in the media center turned on, making everyone jump in fear as Geoff hurriedly turned off the movie and the film screen, scrambling around to figure out what was going on. 

“Oh my god, it’s a ghost!” Lindsay squealed, “We’re all gonna like, die! This sucks!” 

Izzy, still hanging upside down on the ceiling, simply shrugged, “Eh, beats how I figured I’d end up dying,” she added on nonchalantly, “Strapped to a table at an RCMP holding facility and being chemically executed for high treason and then thrown into Lake Erie locked inside of a titanium crate.” 

Eva blinked at Izzy and narrowed her eyelids, “How the hell did you plan on committing high treason? High treason to what?! Our military is basically for decoration!” she scoffed, hoisting Izzy into a seated position in the rafters and turning to the door as the lights flickered, revealing Chris in his pajamas, hand still pressed against the light switch. 

“Alright, now that you guys are done losing your shit, it’s time for dinner, head on downstairs, we’ve got a big day tomorrow, you kids can finally open your Christmas presents from your parents!” Chris said in a saccharine voice, hands clasped together, “Don’t expect any surprise visits though, Santa might work miracles but he sure as hell can’t violate the policy codes unless he wants a birch cane to the keister.” 

“Was that English?” Cody asked Trent. 

"I don't think so," Trent replied, shrugging as he stood up, dusting off his pajama pants and turning to Geoff, "I thought we were going to watch the Cinderella movie or something, what happened?" 

Geoff looked at the clock on the wall and then at his phone, "We started off a little late, I had to go hunting for 9th graders for like half an hour, but delays aside, looks like the administration did some meddling with the schedule without telling us I guess," he explained, glancing unamused at Chris, "So movie night got cut short, sorry dudes."

“Let’s get a move on people, downstairs in fifteen minutes or you’ve all got thirty-five thousand words on candy canes, move it, move it!” Chris beckoned, clapping his hands as the students filed out, Geoff locking the door to the media studio behind them, only to hear another high pitched squeal and the pattering of slippers against the carpeted flooring. 

**_THUNK!_ **

“David!” Geoff yelled, opening the door and letting Dave out before locking it again, “If you’re so scared of the dark, light a fire under your butt and get moving before I turn out the lights!” he scolded as Dave gnawed anxiously on his fingertips. 

“Yes Geoff, sorry Geoff, I’m going now!” Dave replied, scrambling down the hallway to catch up with Ella in the dining hall, Geoff strolling along behind the group as Chris sighed, his shoulders slumping as he turned his attention to a blurry painting adorned with thick streaks of dark red. 

“Do I have to follow them so I can tell them when to go to bed?” Chris asked the painting, completely unamused when the blurry figure in the painting’s resolution cleared and it nodded at him, muttering something in unintelligible French, “Fine, fi i ne, I fucking hate this job, be lucky you sign my paychecks.” 

In the dining hall, dinner was remarkably not as stuffy and classic as you would expect from an affluent boarding school on Christmas Eve: pizza and garlic bread or fish and chips- french fries, but y’know… overzealous verbiage and all that- available at the student’s choice, alongside another torrent of cookies that Owen baked previously. 

Sitting at their usual lunch table, Noah ate three french fries and took a swig of water from his cup, humming in delight as the potatoes crunched between his teeth, “Watching a movie filled with food imagery made me hungrier than I anticipated,” he said in pure bliss, his eyes closed. 

“Wagon Wheel, no wait! The oil!” Owen whimpered, his eyes shimmering as he bit his lip, relaxing when Noah turned to smile at him. 

“These are fried in canola oil, so I can eat them!” Noah said cheerfully, polishing off his fries before sliding his fish over to Owen, “I’m not hungry enough to finish that off, so you can have it, Lunchbox.” 

Owen cheered, digging into the fish upon polishing off his pizza slices, “I wonder if my brothers got me anything for Christmas,” he pondered. 

Alejandro scoffed from his seat at the table, “We’ll find out tomorrow, calm yourself you oaf,” he grumbled, finishing his slice of pizza and taking a bite out of a cookie, “I just want to go to bed, I’m tired and today has been too much already, I hate Christmas without my family, I just want it to be over already!” 

Heather rubbed Alejandro’s back, “It’s okay… you wanna go to my dorm? I’ll read to you and you can take a nap,” she asked, “You said this was nice because you don’t have to put up with your brother.” 

“I don’t have to put up with him but I can’t see anyone else! I just…,” Alejandro exhaled through his nose, getting up and following Heather back to the dormitory building after dumping their trays and gathering their things. 

“Well that was weird,” Izzy said through a mouthful of cookie, dangling from the ceiling, “I half expected there to be another fight or something, but this is a pretty nice change of pace, nobody’s getting beaten over the head with a tray.” 

“Izzy, get down from there while you’re eating, it’s a choking hazard,” Courtney snipped, arms folded as she pointed to Izzy’s seat next to Eva with an indignant look on her face. 

“You’re a choking hazard,” Izzy replied, sticking out her tongue and blowing a raspberry at Courtney before tossing her cookie in the air and sticking up both middle fingers, making Courtney gasp and glare at the redhead from her seat at the table, nonchalantly munching on her french fries while Gwen blushed, looking away with a smile. 

“Ain’t that the truth,” Gwen muttered before Courtney threw a french fry at her, “Hey! Hey! You can’t get mad at me because it’s true! Courtney!” 

“That’s gay,” Duncan chuckled from his seat across the table, a smug smile on his face as he drank his fruit punch from a juice box- a very large translucent one with a thick straw… it actually looked quite pretty. 

“Oh shut the hell up, Duncan, you’re gay,” Tyler scoffed, humming out of satisfaction as Lindsay braided his hair, “Your hands feel so good, I can like… feel every single strand of hair.” 

“Duh, you have roots,” Trent scoffed from his seat, before pondering, “Speaking of gay… where’s Scott?” 

Duncan shrugged, “I think all the 9th years are out setting up some cookies and milk for Santa Claus,” he explained, unamused as he continued to sip out of his juice box. 

The table full of teens cringed, some of them laughing but the others looking a bit nervous. 

“I dunno if I’d be comfortable being in a relationship with somebody who still believed in Santa,” Cody said, “That’s so immature… especially considering the fact that with how we were raised, none of our parents really perpetuated the idea of Santa, right? Like it was always ‘What do you want Mommy and Daddy to buy you for Christmas?’ and not ‘What do you want Santa to bring you for Christmas?’” 

A bunch of the 10th graders nodded in agreement until Sierra spoke up from the cluster of voices, “None of the 9th years actually believe in Santa… except for the little one, the 13-year-old, Zoey,” she explained, “Her parents kind of sheltered her, y’know… and the rest of the 9th year students wanted to humor her.” 

“Awwwww, that’s actually super cute!” Lindsay giggled, blushing, “That’s so sweet! They wanna support her because she’s the youngest!” 

“I don’t think any of us would bother to do that for Courtney,” Duncan chuckled, “Seeing as she’s the youngest out of all of us.” 

“That is so rude, you guys would, right?!” Courtney asked with folded arms, hearing a chorus of ‘No’s and ‘E h h hhh maybe, but probably not’s, “Fuck you guys, honestly, that’s so mean.” 

“Alright kids! Time for bed, we’ve got a big day ahead of us tomorrow, lots of present opening, lots of fun, let’s get a move on, showers and then bed! You don’t have to go to sleep, but you can’t stay here!” Chris ordered, clapping his hands as he ushered the teens up to the dormitory building after they left the dining hall, “There we go, move it, move it, move it!” 

On their way to the dormitory building, Owen walked over to Sierra and whispered in her ear, “Hey… do you know where the 9th years put the cookies?” 

That night, in a dark hallway connecting the dining hall and the main school building, there was a chair holding a large plate of cookies, illuminated by the moon and the patches of thick falling snow. 

Nobody was keeping an eye on the cookies, and breaking the silence, the creaking of the floorboards could be heard as two large figures tip-toed through the hall, their shadows sharp and dark under the moonlight as they hovered over the chair, licking their lips like ravenous animals. 

About an hour of munching and crunching and gulping down milk, and the two figures were lying down underneath the chair, suppressing belches as they wistfully looked up out of the large windows at the night sky, stuffed with cookies and blissfully satisfied with the sugary flavours dancing on their tongues. 

“That was so worth it, wasn’t it?” 

“It so was, man, thanks for inviting me to eat them with you,” 

“No problem, I just hope we don’t get caught or anything… I could fall asleep here,” 

“Me too,” 

The lights in the hallway came on and the two figures scrambled to their feet as a half-asleep Lorenzo and Noah stood in the doorway near the lightswitch, silently fuming. 

“C’mon Owen,” Noah yawned, “Zoey isn’t going to think Santa ate the cookies if you and Chet are still here when she comes to check the plate, let’s go back to bed.” 

Owen yawned, stretching his back as he followed Noah back to the dormitory building, Chet hurriedly chasing after his brother down the hall and back to the dormitory building as well- after turning off the lights of course. 

And as they opened the door to the dormitory building to scale the several floors up that are required to reach their dorms, they heard the sound of bells. 

“What the fuck is that?” Chet asked, shaking as the jingling got louder and the sound of hooves moving could be heard from above them. The rusty brunette fell to his knees and clasped his hands together, “I see Jesus in me, above me, and all around me, Archangel Michael please protect me as I endure these- OW! Lorenzo!” 

“It’s Santa, not Satan you fucking dunce, get up,” Lorenzo laughed, pulling Chet to his feet by the back of his neck, “C’mon, hurry, let’s go to bed before he tries to kill us for eating his cookies,” he whispered, hurrying to the dormitory building with Chet following behind him. 

Noah blinked, unamused as he looked at the ceiling, “Izzy, I know it’s you,” he whispered, watching the ginger jump down from the ceiling holding a band of sleigh bells and a tape recorder with a big smile on her face, “Real funny, Iz, let’s go, everybody, to the dorms before the sun decides to rise.” 

Izzy skipped alongside Noah as they approached the dormitory building, Noah pausing in the middle of their walk and turning to look over his shoulder with a soft smile. 

“C’mon Yule Log, stop licking the plate, there’s plenty more cookies but you won’t be able to eat them if you’re not awake by breakfast,” Noah sighed, waiting patiently as he heard the clattering of the plate against the chair, “C’mon Izzy, he’ll catch up in three… two…-” 

“Coming Cinnamon Bun!” 

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: I did a lot of background research on boarding schools, and since most boarding schools are for the children of diplomats and other well-to-do affluent fucksticks, all of the cast are the children of successful Canadian elites, but only Heather, Justin, and Lindsay consistently talk about it, and they and Alejandro are the only ones who really care. 
> 
> Hope you enjoy! This is my first publicly posted Total Drama fic.


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